AFC Bournemouth 2 - 0 SouthamptonBenik Afobe rises to the occasion as Bournemouth beat Southampton
Home team scorersSteve Cook 31
Benik Afobe 79
They say that the best strikers are those who manage to inflict misery on an opponent even when they are at their most anonymous. Step forward then, Benik Afobe. Bournemouth’s record signing illuminated an unexceptional performance by nodding home his first goal in four matches to earn the Cherries their first league victory over Southampton for 58 years.
His striker partner, Josh King, had looked brighter even though his partner had given birth to their baby son Noah on the morning of the match. King showed little sign of having endured a sleepless night, beating Jose Fonte to the ball on the right flank, before wrestling past the Southampton skipper until he was finally stopped when the referee, Mike Dean, blew his whistle for a foul.
Matt Ritchie fizzed in the resulting free kick, which was initially cleared away from goal by Fraser Forster’s giant right hand before the Bournemouth defender Steve Cook hooked the ball into the net. Bournemouth’s players duly surrounded King to celebrate his new-born and his part in the Cherries opener.
Cook’s second goal this season gave Bournemouth a deserved lead, after a bright start. Ritchie was instrumental from the off and forced Forster into action inside the first 60 seconds with a stinging low drive after good work from King, who partnered Afobe in a newly adopted 4-4-2 formation. Meanwhile Max Gradel, making his first start since returning from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, made sure Cédric Soares enjoyed a difficult evening.
The Southampton manager, Ronald Koeman, was evidently far from happy with his side’s sluggish start. The Dutchman made three changes to the side that started Saturday’s defeat by Chelsea, preferring Maya Yoshida to Matt Targett in defence while Steven Davis and Jordy Clasie also dropped to the bench, but after just 35 minutes he changed his side once again, replacing Yoshida with Davis.
Southampton’s Charlie Austin has proved to be the one that got away for Howe, after nearly signing for Bournemouth in 2009 and admitting to holding informal talks with the Cherries at the start of the season. And Austin, lining up against the Cherries in only his second start for his new club, missed a gilt-edged chance for the visitors, misfiring after a fine low cross by the overlapping Soares.
Moments before half time the stadium fell eerily silent when both technical areas frantically gestured for the match to be halted. The fourth official, Kevin Friend, appeared to have feinted after hitting his head close to the Southampton dugout. Friend was conscious as he was taken to hospital after receiving treatment in the tunnel, and Dean Treleaven replaced him as the fourth official for the second period, which started five minutes later than scheduled.
Bournemouth’s centre-back partnership of Cook and Simon Francis shackled Austin well, until the striker was substituted early in the second half because of injury. His replacement, Graziano Pellè, whose ineffective display as a second-half substitute against Chelsea saw him jeered when in possession, was ordered on to bruise the otherwise comfortable Bournemouth backline. Shane Long, who had been doubtful for this match after suffering from cramp on Saturday, was forced off minutes later.
The problems were stacking up for Koeman, whose side rarely troubled the former Southampton goalkeeper Artur Boruc. Sadio Mané’s focus appeared elsewhere, leaving the Bournemouth left-back Charlie Daniels to wonder why Southampton’s doubtless talented winger has created such a stir at times.
Afobe rounded off a frustrating evening for Southampton in the 79th minute, heading in from another marvellous Ritchie delivery, this time from a right-wing free-kick.
This was a chastising defeat for Koeman, whose attacking players were repeatedly outfoxed by Bournemouth’s defence. Southampton have now lost two games in succession, with their hopes of playing European football next season very much in the balance.
Howe, who so often appears unmoved, punched the air and displayed an enormous smile as he celebrated Afobe’s all-important second goal, and a priceless victory that will surely go some way to deciding if these two sides will meet again next season.
Guardian