John Henry, Liverpool’s owner and his wife Linda Pizzuti look relieved.

The word plucky is essentially used as sublimation for a side’s lack of quality. Smaller clubs are always pluckier sides. However, in this instance Bournemouth were not plucky, they were aeons more skilful and creative than Liverpool in the 90+ minutes with the exception of Phillipe Coutinho. They were also undone by a display of the most horrendously incompetent refereeing seen in recent times. There should be a special purgatory for referees like Craig Pawson and his assistant Harry Lennard.

Tommy Elphick clearly got the better off Dejan Lovren inside the 5th minute off a corner and he headed the ball in fractionally before lightly bracing himself on the centre back’s shoulder. It also looked like Lovren was missing the trajectory of the ball. What it was not was a push or a push down. We have seen far worse in the box from set pieces. Martin Skrtel knows what a good mugging looks like. If robbing Bournemouth of a goal was not enough, what Lennard did at the other end was worse.

Coutinho under the new rules was clearly in an offside position when Jordan Henderson whipped in his cross. He made an attempt at goal but missed and as the ball went over his outstretched leg, Christian Benteke moved in from an onside position for an easy tap in. Boruc was clearly thrown off by Coutinho’s movement giving an unfair advantage to Benteke. The Belgian is a wonderful striker but that goal should have never stood. There were other head-scratchers, a handball called on Daniels when it was clearly accidental and a non-existent foul on Coutinho with Steve Cook getting booked.

Bournemouth for the first 20 minutes zipped the ball around with great energy and pace. Callum Wilson pushed around Skrtel and Lovren with ease. Charlie Daniels and Matt Ritchie also caught the eye. The former for his lung busting powerful runs from deep and the latter breaking in from the right channel to unleash a powerful left foot. The second half saw Bournemouth exert even more control with Ritchie struck the outside of the post from one of his curling daisy cutters and Eunan O’Kane came close too. For Liverpool Coutinho was the one man show, always dangerous on the ball, looking to shoot. Clearly he has a zest for the spectacular and he came close on at least two occasions dragging his shot just wide. He was also denied two other times blocked spectacularly by Andrew Surman and Daniels. Benteke was the other threat almost adding another goal but his first time connection just bounced over the upright helped by a Boruc fingertip.

Bournemouth can be encouraged with the way they played. Eddie Howe is a big fan of Brendan Rodgers (cue eyebrow raise) and his style of play. The association deepens when you consider Sean O’Driscoll, Rodgers’s assistant was also at Bournemouth as coach at the same time Howe was in the youth team. They were not overawed by the occasion playing at hallowed Anfield against their mighty opponents and they were the much better side for most part of the match. However, this is only consolation. The reality is referees rarely give small clubs the benefit of the doubt.