AFC Bournemouth bowed out of the Carabao Cup with their heads held high following an absorbing fourth-round duel with nine-time winners Liverpool on Wednesday.
Andoni Iraola’s team created a number of presentable chances but only had Justin Kluivert’s second-half header to show for their efforts.
Kluivert netted his first goal for the club when he arrived to meet Alex Scott’s 64th-minute corner with a stooping far-post header to level for the hosts.
The Dutchman twice went close to breaking the deadlock in the first half and set up a chance for Milos Kerkez, only for Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher to thwart the Cherries.
Cody Gakpo opened the scoring for the visitors in the 31st minute when he followed up to poke the ball home from close range after Andrei Radu had saved his initial effort.
Joe Gomez was forced to clear Scott’s inswinging corner off the line in the second half before Antoine Semenyo and Marcus Tavernier both went close to levelling.
And although Kluivert equalised, Darwin Núñez came off the bench to grab a stunning winner with a blistering drive 20 minutes from time.
Click through the arrows above to see a gallery of pictures from the game.
