VAR checks, Klopp fuming at the ref, an incredible goal line clearance from James Milner

The Liverpool talisman thanked Mane after being teed up by the Senegalese forward and finishing past Aaron Ramsdale

• Premier League leaders Liverpool were forced to battle back from behind to beat Bournemouth at Anfield
• Callum Wilson fired Bournemouth into a shock lead after holding off Joe Gomez and burying beyond Adrian 
• But Sadio Mane soon latched on to Jack Simpson's mistake and teed up Mo Salah to convert from close range
• Mane turned from provider to scorer on 33 minutes after racing in on goal and coolly bending into the corner
• James Milner rescued the hosts after acrobatically hooking Ryan Fraser's goal bound effort away from danger
• Ryan Fraser was clear on goal yet he only had a split second to react. Adrian, liked a crazed sprinter, eyes popping, was charging at him from his goal-line. The winger took a look, summarised the odds and instinctively touched the ball over the onrushing keeper. The ball lofted over Adrian, now helpless, and bounced as it lolloped towards goal.
  Then, out of the corner of your vision, came a rush of red, a determined runner powering his way into the box like Forrest Gump. Too late, it seemed, as the ball bounced again and spun goal-wards.
  But our unlikely superhero was undeterred. James Milner took another stride and then, recognising hope was diminishing, slid the last few yards, stuck out his leg and, implausibly, hooked the ball away as it was about to make its way over the line. 
  
  

  
  

  Sadio Mane fired Liverpool into the lead after Virgil van Dijk's incisive pass allowed the attacker to race through and slot home
  
  

  
  

  The Senegalese star kept his composure and bent a neat effort beyond Aaron Ramsdale and into the bottom right corner
  
  
  
  

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  Liverpool's lethal front three celebrated together after firing the hosts ahead for the first time against Bournemouth at Anfield
  
  

  James Milner had to rescue Liverpool from conceding a late equaliser in the second-half with this superb goal-line clearance
  Sixty-one minutes had gone at Anfield. The champions elect had already suffered one malfunction, which they had overcome. Bournemouth, despite their position, are not a team to be dismissed. Yet again, this was a genuine challenge for Liverpool.

  And Milner's intervention was crucial. Of course, it's hard to get too tense when discussing a team 25 points clear with nine games remaining. Liverpool could win the league before they even play again in the unlikely event that Manchester City lose their next three games.

  

  So it's not as though the stand-in left back had saved the club from imminent collapse. That said, this was a test of nerve, a first challenge after what had been, until last weekend, a near-perfect season. Defeats to Atletico Madrid and Chelsea in cups and to Watford in the Premier League suggested a vulnerability where previously none had been apparent. Liverpool needed to resume normal service. The title is coming but they required a reboot. They didn't want to be limping over the line. Especially not with a Champions League tie to play this week.

  And when we recall the personalities that forged this great team in years to come, a 34-year-old self-styled dour Yorkshireman will feature high on the list. Of course, there are plenty more glamourous players, younger stars who will have played more this season, athletes at the peak of their career, not a understated man approaching middle age. Jurgen Klopp was keen to press home the point: Milner, standing in for Andy Robertson at left back here, and his compatriot, Jordan Henderson, are the heart of his team. 'Having Milly not available and Hendo at the same time, so pretty much not in the dressing room, that is really not cool,' said Klopp.
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  Salah squeezed his effort through Jefferson Lerma's legs and into the far corner to provide Liverpool the perfect response
  
  

  
  

  The Liverpool talisman thanked Mane after being teed up by the Senegalese forward and finishing past Aaron Ramsdale
  
  

  
  

  Mane pounced on substitute Jack Simpson's error before racing into the box and setting up Salah to level the scores neatly
  'The job they do is on the pitch mainly but not only. I'm more than happy for Milly that he had that situation [of the last-ditch clearance] though I didn't like the situation, obviously. It was a super game, in the position [left back] in which, two years ago, he told the whole world and their dog that he doesn't like. But now from time to time he obviously likes it!'
  Mané, Salah, van Dijk: when we recall this extraordinary champion team, these are the names that will slip off the tongue easily. But nothing represents its character better than Milner. No-one personifies its determination and resolve more than the 34-year-old Yorkshireman. His heroics come in a different guise but are no less significant.
  Those more-exalted players featured strongly on Saturday, Sadio Mane prominent among them, scoring, assisting and hitting the post with his a mesmeric curling shot in the second half. He rescued Liverpool from the initial hiccup with his indefatigable pressing, robbing the unfortunate Jack Simpson, who had only just come on, of the ball to set up the equalising goal on 26 minutes after Bournemouth had discombobulated Anfield by taking the lead.
  He rather ruined his good work by delivering his assist behind Mo Salah, meaning the Egyptian had to check his run. No matter, Salah made light of the poor ball, collecting it, cutting back and shooting for the near post to score as Aaron Ramsdale prepared for him to for the opposite corner. That's 70 goals in first 100 league games for Liverpool, leaving Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush and Luis Suarez in his wake. 

Source:liverpoolfc.com