Counter-attacking with quality

The Villa game reminded me that the top teams really do break with quality. Both Villa goals came on the counter-attack and the speed and movement off the ball as well as the passing was fatal for AFCB on both occasions. Eddie Howe said that there were things that AFCB could have done better, but when on the counter Villa exposed the spaces really well and it is something that I feel AFCB have also done well on occasion this season.

Aston Villa scored with quality strikes.

You don't score 57 goals in a season and not have an ounce of quality about your forward play. AFCB were close to getting a breakthrough on more than a couple of times and it is always said that you need to take your chances. It is also a question of knowing when to try your luck though and sometimes it is the sheer audacity of attempting to try the near impossible that results in a goal. Carles Gil had no right to shoot and score from where he did. He probably would say it was no fluke, but how many times would he hit that shot and get a goal I wonder?

Callum got his own back on the complaining Shay Given with a last minute goal. 

The balance between overplaying things and chancing your arm is sometimes an aspect of the game that the Cherries don't always excel in, but I am sure it is the way they are instructed to play. If Arsenal are also accused of the same thing then can we really complain? I don't think it is a case of trying to score the perfect goal in AFCB's case, but when the passing is as good as it was for AFCB's away goal against Norwich City this season, it makes the task of finishing the move much less testing.

Against lesser opposition AFCB have been able to steal in a little easier and it is good to know that they have scored against top teams such as, West Brom and now Aston Villa this season. It's something they can take into their next encounter with a Premier League team. The players have more idea of what is required and that has to be of benefit, becasue they can also take that knowledge into the games against fellow Championship sides.