Southampton react with hilarious meme as Liverpool thrash Bournemouth 9-0 

Southampton have offered a hilarious response to their South Coast rivals Bournemouth being thrashed 9-0 by Liverpool in the Premier League on August 27.

The Reds equaled the Premier League's record margin of victory and became the fourth side to win by such a margin in the competition's history. Two of those previous occasions have come in the past three years, with the Saints being on the receiving end of both hammerings.

Ralph Hassenhuttl's side first lost by nine at home to Leicester City in 2019. They were then thrashed at Old Trafford by Manchester United two years later.

Bournemouth endured a chastening afternoon at Anfield. The newly promoted side were put to the sword by Liverpool, who earned their first league win of the season.

The Cherries suffered their worst defeat since 1982 and Southampton were quick to jump onto the result. They tweeted a picture of the infamous Spider-Man meme, with the two identical superheroes pointing at each other.

The Saints put their crest on one of them, while placing Bournemouth's badge on the other. The Tweet has already earned plenty of praise online for its self-deprecating nature and has over 10,000 retweets and more than 80,000 likes.

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Liverpool equal record Premier League victory against Bournemouth at Anfield

Liverpool equalled their biggest ever top-flight victory as they matched their famous nine-goal triumph over Crystal Palace in 1989.

Roberto Firmino was the starman during the demolition, as he scored twice and set up three more during the clash. Luis Diaz opened the scoring, with Harvey Elliott, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk helping give Liverpool a 5-0 lead at the break.

Chris Mepham's own goal in the first minute of the second period set the tone for the rest of the game. Fabio Carvalho netted his first goal for the Reds since his summer move from Fulham.

Diaz then rounded off the scoring five minutes from time to equal the record. Liverpool became the fifth side to score nine times in a single Premier League encounter.

The Anfield crowd smelt blood and were demanding a 10th strike, which would have made a piece of English football history. They instead had to settle for one short of double figures, but did claim a much-needed victory after a difficult start to the campaign.

It was an incredibly difficult afternoon for Scott Parker's side, whose confidence will surely be knocked out by such a huge defeat. Bournemouth are expected to be near the bottom of the table at the end of the season after being promoted this season. Hence, their goal difference taking such a hammering may come back to haunt them. It currently stands a -14 after just four matches.