Encouraging midweek victories for both sides promised to make Iraola’s return to the south coast a memorable one, but goalmouth action proved few and far between in the first half.
Buoyed by a 2-1 victory at Real Sociedad in their first-ever European match, the hosts went closest when Marcus Tavernier’s low ball was flicked towards the near post by Evanilson, but Alisson Becker got down in a flash to palm it away from the bottom corner.
Liverpool also had spells of promise, but aside from a pair of off-target free kicks from Dominik Szoboszlai, their only chance came when Bradley Barcola’s right-footed effort was saved comfortably by Dorde Petrovic.
Starting the second half well, Bournemouth twice went close through Ryan Christie, who couldn’t hit the target from Rayan’s cross or from the edge of the area.
But the Vitality Stadium faithful were left shocked when Liverpool instead opened the scoring with just under an hour played.
Cody Gakpo’s cross from the right hit a combination of Florian Wirtz and a defender at the near post and popped up perfectly for an arriving Alexander Isak, who fired in from close range.
Struggling to respond, the home side’s final ball was repeatedly off the mark, and they instead stumbled to a 15th defeat in 19 PL meetings with the Reds.
It’s just a third win in 10 away matches for Liverpool, but two of those have come under Iraola, who also remains unbeaten on the road since his arrival.
Contrastingly, Bournemouth end a remarkable run at this venue, where they were previously undefeated since losing to Arsenal here at the beginning of January.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool)
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