Bournemouth’s Charlie Daniels spot-on as nine-man West Brom suffer
West Brom 1 - 2 AFC BournemouthHome team scorers
Gareth McAuley 79
Away team scorers
Adam Smith 52
Charlie Daniels 87 Pen
Charlie Daniels celebrates scoring Bournemouth’s second goal from the penalty spot against West Brom at The Hawthorns.
Charlie Daniels’ late penalty gave in-form Bournemouth a third successive Premier League win as they triumphed 2-1 at nine-man West Bromwich Albion. The defender fired in after Dan Gosling had been brought down by Darren Fletcher with just three minutes left, after Gareth McAuley had looked to have rescued a point for the Baggies when he cancelled out Adam Smith’s second-half opener.
Albion had to play almost an hour with 10 men after James McClean was dismissed for a wild lunge at Smith as he looked for revenge following a tackle between the pair just 10 seconds before, then Salomón Rondón was sent off in injury time after an altercation with Gosling to complete the late drama.
Defeat was Tony Pulis’ 100th as a Premier League manager and ended the Baggies’ four-match unbeaten run. It also increased the Baggies’ home woes as only Aston Villa (two) have won fewer points at home than Albion (eight).
Victory lifted the Cherries sitting five points clear of the drop zone and they were the better side from the off. Junior Stanislas’ shot was beaten away by Boaz Myhill after two minutes before James Morrison drifted a spectacular volley wide from 25 yards as Bournemouth bossed the first half without breaking down a stubborn and organised West Brom side who offered little.
The game was drifting towards half-time until McClean’s rush of blood brought things to the boil. The midfielder had clashed with Smith just 10 seconds earlier after a 50-50 challenge left the Baggies man in a heap and, angered he did not get a foul, McClean dished out revenge. He chased the ball as Matt Ritchie broke away and found Smith before hacking down the Cherries man to deservedly see red and leave Albion with a massive task.
The Cherries had already had 64% of the possession in the first half and they ramped up the pressure on the Baggies towards the break. Ritchie should have scored instead of planting a six-yard header wide under pressure from Chris Brunt – and they almost paid for the miss three minutes after the break. Craig Dawson launched a long ball to Rondón, who controlled it well but saw his fierce half-volley turned over by Artur Boruc.
The visitors deservedly took the lead on 52 minutes as Smith continued to be public enemy No1 at The Hawthorns. The midfielder was given far too much time to cut in from the right and he arrowed a low 20-yard drive into the bottom corner.
With 10 men Albion offered little immediate resistance and Stanislas hit the outside of the post 15 minutes later. The Cherries looked comfortable but needed a brilliant header from Steve Cook to stop Stéphane Sessègnon levelling.
Rickie Lambert was introduced with 15 minutes left as Saido Berahino remained on the bench until injury time to underline how far he remains out of Pulis’s plans. But the Baggies levelled out of the blue with 11 minutes remaining when McAuley glanced Craig Gardner’s corner across goal and in off the far post from six yards.
The Cherries paid the price for not leaving a man on the line but won it with three minutes left. Gosling was felled in a tangle of legs by Fletcher as he burst into the area to allow Daniels to rifle in the spot-kick off the bar.
Rondón was then dismissed in stoppage time to compound Albion’s woes after an off-the-ball clash with Gosling.
Guardian
