New Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp claimed victory at the fourth attempt as his team edged Bournemouth 1-0 in the League Cup on Wednesday.
Liverpool had recorded draws against Tottenham Hotspur, Rubin Kazan and Southampton in Klopp’s first three games after succeeding Brendan Rodgers, but Nathaniel Clyne’s first-half strike got the German off the mark.
The England right-back’s goal took the eight-time League Cup winners into the quarter-finals as they eliminated Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth from the competition for the second season running.
“It’s better than a draw,” Klopp told Sky Sports at Anfield with a wry smile.
“I’m really satisfied tonight because this team never played together since I’m here – young players, new players, players who didn’t play for a long time because of injuries – and they did really well.
“We were dominant, we played football and had our moments. Everything is OK.”
Klopp made nine changes to his starting XI, handing a debut to 20-year-old academy graduate Connor Randall at right-back and awarding first starts to Portuguese midfielder Joao Teixeira and 19-year-old Cameron Brannagan.
There was an early scare for the hosts when Junior Stanislas put Dejan Lovren on the deck and shot at goal, forcing goalkeeper Adam Bogdan to block, but in the 17th minute they went ahead.
From Roberto Firmino’s pass, Teixeira beat visiting goalkeeper Adam Federici with an audacious back-heel that was cleared off the line by Adam Smith, but Clyne followed in to tuck away his first Liverpool goal.
Liverpool lost Kolo Toure to a hamstring injury in the 32nd minute, with Martin Skrtel coming on, and Bournemouth continued to threaten through Stanislas, who forced Bogdan into action with a header and a free-kick.
After Shaun MacDonald had headed narrowly wide for Bournemouth early in the second half, Firmino and Teixeira both went close for the hosts, but Clyne’s strike proved enough.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

