Richard Jolly
If this is what happens when John W Henry attends matches at Anfield, perhaps he should turn up more often. The last time Liverpool’s principal owner ventured to Merseyside he witnessed what will probably always remain Mario Balotelli’s sole Premier League goal for the club.
On his belated return, he saw the first of what ought to prove rather more for Christian Benteke.
Balotelli is the controversialist.
Benteke’s goal came with controversy, too, as an offside Philippe Coutinho stretched to try and convert Jordan Henderson’s cross before the summer recruit did. Bournemouth have a legitimate gripe, but Benteke has a goal on his home debut and Liverpool the first return on their £32.5 million investment.
Proven scorers always command a premium price and Benteke is the second most expensive player in Liverpool’s history, behind only Andy Carroll.
He waited more than two months to open his Anfield account.
Benteke has more speed and was quicker to find the net. Liverpool’s recent history is pockmarked by striking failures, Carroll and Balotelli prominent amongst them, and the more superstitious in their support could be forgiven for hoping Benteke’s goal represents a sign that he will not disappoint as the Geordie and the Italian did.
He is a more stable character than Balotelli, who was watching from the stands, and a more rounded player than Carroll. He struck the bar at the death and, a couple of minutes before he scored, he almost struck with a ferocious long-range shot.
It was a reminder that he does not necessarily need a diet of crosses to prosper. He does not possess the stardust of Luis Suarez, but he may help fill the void. That burden, however, will have to be shared.
The reality is that Liverpool have spent £200 million in successive summers and their outstanding individual is one who was already at the club.
As usual, Coutinho offered the classiest touches. He scores great goals, as he did at Stoke last week, but what Liverpool require is for someone to contribute regularly.
Their specialist strikers mustered a mere eight league goals between them last season, an astonishingly low tally. The class of 2015-16 only need seven more to equal that meagre total.
It bodes well that Benteke averaged close on a goal every other game for some decidedly undistinguished Aston Villa sides. He has exactly one in two for Liverpool, who find themselves sharing the lead in the Premier League with the Manchester clubs and Leicester.
It represents a fine start for centre-forward and club alike. Neither victory has been entirely convincing but they ought to beat promoted clubs at home and they duly did.
And so Bournemouth still await their first point. They are finding it easier to earn admirers with their progressive style of play. Clubs who are opposites in many ways share a passing ethos and Matt Ritchie, whose return of 15 goals and 17 assists last season was eye-catching, offered hints of incision.
He took the fifth-minute corner that Tommy Elphick headed in.
This, it seemed, was the ideal beginning to a belated first league game at Anfield, 126 years after they were formed.
Much has been made of the romance of Bournemouth’s rise, but referee Craig Pawson seemed distinctly unsentimental. He ruled, probably correctly, that Elphick had fouled Dejan Lovren.
A second flashpoint saw another major decision go Liverpool’s way when Benteke’s goal stood.
That can be the way of things for promoted clubs. Their task is the same as Benteke’s: to adjust to a new level as quickly as possible.
He is showing signs that Anfield is not always a striker’s graveyard. That should come as a relief to Henry.
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