Christian Benteke opened his goalscoring account for Liverpool in controversial circumstances on Monday night, as newly promoted Bournemouth were left frustrated at Anfield despite a good showing in their first Premier League away game.

An end-to-end opening 20 minutes set the tone, as both sides made inroads towards the opposition goal.

Bournemouth found some joy through their pacey and direct front four. Max Gradel on the left, Matt Ritchie down the right and Joshua King supporting Callum Wilson. A 4-2-3-1 in attack, becoming 4-4-1-1 in defence.

Tommy Elphic had the away fans celebrating when he headed home from a corner but the referee judged that the centre back had fouled Dejan Lovren as he rose to the ball.

Liverpool’s defence looked worried but they were dangerous in attack themselves, using Benteke to knock the ball down to Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho, who buzzed around their centre forward.

Then on the 26th minute, their new number nine opened the scoring. Henderson’s whipped cross, after a well worked corner, beat everyone except Benteke, who was lurking at the far post to poke in his first goal for the club. However, Philippe Coutinho motioned towards the ball as it found its way through and could have been penalised for offside under the revised laws.

Liverpool’s clever set pieces were a feature of the game and shortly after the goal, James Milner squared a free kick to Henderson who shot just over from outside the area. Another disguised free kick led to a good shout for a penalty in front of the Kop but referee Michael Oliver wasn't interested in Henderson’s claims.

Bournemouth began the second half as they had the first. Ritchie and Eunan O’Kane both saw shots go off target, as the away side struggled to find the clinical finishing their build up play deserved.

The inability to be clinical in the final third was a theme for both teams as the match wore on, with a late Benteke strike hitting the bar being the closest the game came to its second goal.

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe commented after the game that more clarity is needed regarding the offside rules.

“We were sat down by the referees and told the new offside rules,” said Howe.

“Our goalkeeper was clearly impacted by the run so under the new rules that was clearly offside.”

Bournemouth will be hoping that they can turn their good performances into points, sooner rather than later.