Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah Rally Liverpool Past Bournemouth 2-1 in EPL

Liverpool moved a step closer to the Premier League title after beating Bournemouth 2-1 at Anfield on Saturday. Goals from Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane secured a 27th win of the campaign for the leaders after Callum Wilson opened the scoring for the visitors.

Today's result has put the Reds 25 points clear of nearest rivals Manchester City, who face neighbours Manchester United in a derby on Sunday. City will still have another game in hand, but Liverpool winning a first domestic top-flight title since 1990 is now a matter of when, not if.

Liverpool's recent defensive frailties were exposed as early as the ninth minute, albeit in controversial circumstances. Wilson profited, but only after what appeared an obvious push on Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez.

Some slick play left Bournemouth's No. 9 with a tap-in before VAR deemed Wilson's role in the buildup legal.

The ruling left Jurgen Klopp, his players and the Anfield faithful stunned:

Spurred on by Liverpool losing focus, the visitors threatened to double their lead when Nathan Ake put a free header narrowly wide. Bournemouth would rue the miss after Mane and Salah had found the net twice in eight minutes.

The latter scored first, turning an errant Mane pass into a goal with a fine shot into the bottom corner.

It marked a landmark day for Salah in style:

Mane was then shown how it's done when he collected a superb pass from Virgil van Dijk before finishing with aplomb.

Bournemouth were behind at the break but far from disgraced, and the Cherries continued to menace Liverpool's back line after the restart. They would have been rewarded had it not been for a sensational goal-line clearance from makeshift left-back James Milner after Ryan Fraser had lobbed stand-in goalkeeper Adrian:

Mane went close at the other end when he cannoned a thunderous, curling effort off the crossbar from distance. Meanwhile, Milner drew a fine save from Aaron Ramsdale after slick work from Salah to play the 34-year-old in behind.

Milner, who was only starting because Klopp told BT Sport (h/t Chris Shaw of the club's official site) Andy Robertson was being rested, was having an exceptional game. The veteran soon denied Bournemouth the chance to break by dispossessing Fraser with a crunching tackle.

Bournemouth still posed a threat, but an injury to midfielder Philip Billing left the Cherries weakened. He stayed on the pitch to avoid the Cherries playing with 10 men after Eddie Howe had already used all of his substitutes.

They could have celebrated an equaliser, but Wilson fluffed his lines with the goal at his mercy after being played in by Ake.

It only required the simplest of touches, but the striker somehow contrived to miss. Even though the offside flag spared Wilson's blushes, it was still an astonishing gaffe.

Liverpool should have made their manpower advantage count soon after, but Firmino prodded over after being teed up brilliantly by Salah. 

The Reds did enough but were far from impressive ahead of facing Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the UEFA Champions last 16 on Wednesday. Klopp will need to see more efficiency in the final third and less gaps left at the back if his team is going to overturn a 1-0 aggregate deficit.

What's Next?

Liverpool host Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League last 16 on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Bournemouth are at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday.