Kelleher’s assesses Liverpool’s performance in Bournemouth win

Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher provided his thoughts after a clean sheet on his first season appearance on Saturday afternoon’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth.

The 25-year-old Irish man made some saves on his way to keeping a clean sheet in the victory against the Cherries, while he praised the team’s overall performance on the day.

After a slow start, a quick-fire brace from Luis Diaz and a stunning curler from Darwin Nunez within 11 minutes in the first half was enough to give the Reds a deserved victory and send them to the top of the Premier League alongside Manchester City, who play Arsenal later on Sunday afternoon.

Sharing his thoughts with Liverpoolfc.com after the match, Kelleher said “Obviously really good. Delighted to get the win. I thought we played really well today – it was a great performance. A setback last week from [Nottingham] Forest, so we’re really happy to get the win today. A good one.”

On his performance and a clean sheet, he continued, “Yeah, Obviously (happy with the clean sheet). The chances (game time) are few and far between them and obviously, I need to come in and do well. I’m happy to make some saves and the most important thing is the clean sheet.

“To be fair I thought we started well, but after that (Semenyo’s disallowed goal) I thought it kind of woke us up, but I think we did quite well. We scored the first goal and got the second in quick succession and so yeah a good team performance in the end.”

The front three were all involved in the goals, with Diaz and Darwin scoring, and Salah assisting one of the goals. Kelleher revealed there have been no surprises within the group, knowing the quality of attackers in the team.

“It’s not easy for the opposition team when the pace of the front three is running after you. I think after the first goal we realized kicked into gear, and the second one I thought came quite quickly so really good performance from all of us.”

One man who has come under scrutiny in recent weeks is Darwin Nunez. The Uruguayan has had to remain patient under Arne Slot with Diogo Jota being preferred to him since the start of the season. Leading the attack for the first time in 2 months, he repaid his coach’s faith in him with a left-footed curler for Liverpool’s third goal after a trademark counterattacked spearheaded by himself and Mohamed Salah.

Caoimhin Kelleher admitted the players’ excitement for Nunez. He continued, “Happy for him. He is a great lad. He’s been working really hard in the last few weeks, and he got his chance today and obviously took it with a brilliant goal.”

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The goalkeeper also had some nice words for Ryan Gravenberch. The midfielder has been the Red’s most in-form player, being named man of the match in three of the six games Liverpool has played this season. The Dutchman has been sensational in the double pivot alongside Alexis MacAllister, with former Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara praising his intelligence on the ball and his awareness without possession.

“Yeah, he’s been amazing this season, to be fair. I can say he’s been world-class. I’ve been really impressed, and all the man-of-the-match awards he has collected this season, I think he deserves them all because he’s been the best player.”

“It’s a great start to life under the new gaffer. Obviously, we were disappointed with what happened last weekend, but what we do as a team is bounce back I think we’ve done that in the last two games and we need to keep the momentum now and keep the confidence. Like I said we all love working under the new manager and hopefully we keep on with these performances.”

With Alisson injured, Kelleher would look to make the most of his chances to impress Arne Slot. He is set to start in midweek against West Ham in the Carabao Cup at Anfield.

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