AFC Bournemouth 2 - 0 SwanseaBenik Afobe lifts Bournemouth clear as Swansea remain in danger
Home team scorersAlfie Mawson 31 o.g.
Benik Afobe 72
Bournemouth recorded back-to-back league wins for the first time since last March to hoist themselves nine points clear of the relegation zone and deepen Swansea’s relegation concerns. Eddie Howe felt he was ageing after his team’s difficult start to the year but this relentless display will have left him full of vigour.
The pressure was on for both teams, with wins for Leicester City and Crystal Palace before kick-off amplifying the importance of this fixture. The significance of a result for Bournemouth was even more pertinent given that Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham are three of their next four opponents.
Howe was conscious of what to expect of Swansea under Paul Clement, insisting they are a “different team” since the 45-year-old took charge in January.
Four days before his appointment, Clement was skiing in the Austrian Alps as Bournemouth comfortably turned over Swansea 3-0. That result left Swansea rooted to the bottom of the table and although Clement has seemingly steadied a sinking ship this was a fourth consecutive away defeat.
Swansea lined up with only six of the same faces from that New Year’s Eve defeat and with Leroy Fer at right-back in the absence of Àngel Rangel.
Clement made three changes in total and named the 21-year-old full-back Connor Roberts, who spent time on loan at Bristol Rovers earlier this season, among his substitutes. Howe made only one change from last week’s win over West Ham with Andrew Surman in midfield replacing Harry Arter, who failed a fitness test after failing to shake off a calf injury.
Bournemouth made a high-powered start but Swansea ensured they did not have it all their own way, with Clement repeatedly urging his players to press high. Gylfi Sigurdsson’s delivery from set pieces proved problematic for the home side, with Alfie Mawson and then Joshua King, at the wrong end, heading narrowly wide.
Ryan Fraser, named in the senior Scotland squad for the first time this week, was again bright and bypassed Tom Carroll on the edge of the area before skimming an effort across goal and wide of Lukasz Fabianski’s right post. Both teams pride themselves on their playing style but Swansea threatened when Fer wound up a long throw, flicked on by Fernando Llorente, for Sigurdsson whose first-time volley was always rising.
But it was a slice of luck that brought Bournemouth the lead just after the half-hour mark. King beat Federico Fernández to the ball on the edge of the box and played a one-two with Marc Pugh before crossing paths with Afobe who then drove towards goal. His tame shot was surely heading wide until it struck Mawson’s shin-pad, wrongfooting Fabianski as it rolled into the net. The scruffy nature of the goal typified a first half that made largely painful viewing.
Swansea arrived a little early for the second half as Clement, a towering presence in his technical area, demanded a reaction. Carroll clattered into Adam Smith after earlier harrying Andrew Surman. Perhaps, though, Swansea were trying too hard. Jack Cork, a one-time Bournemouth loanee, lost the ball in the middle of the park, allowing Dan Gosling to force Fabianski into a save from distance.
Clement then made a change, with the ineffective Jordan Ayew replaced by Luciano Narsingh. Howe, in the opposing dug-out, watched on as his team assumed control of the game, with Smith and Fraser combining to make promising headway down the right.
The fear for Bournemouth was Sigurdsson, the Swansea playmaker silencing the home crowd every time he stood over a dead ball. After all, no team have conceded more points than the 18 Bournemouth have dropped from winning positions this season. Both Steve Cook and Afobe threw their bodies at crosses, with Llorente lurking.
But Bournemouth made sure of the points after 72 minutes when Afobe added a goal that this time definitely belonged to him. King was again involved, feeding the striker, while Mawson slipped, to slot past Fabianski. The Swansea goalkeeper then made a magnificent save low to his left from King’s header to deny Bournemouth a third.
Guardian
