Match Report
AFCB travelled to Anfield in hope of a bit of relief after their recent games and a better performance. They managed to up their game for sure, and with Liverpool making nine changes and giving a couple of players their debut, there was a possibility of really taking the game to the hosts. The presence of Harry Arter in midfield was certainly a boost and with Stanislas playing in behind Yann Kermorgant, the Cherries caused plenty of problems for Liverpool. However, it was the talent of Jordan Ibe and Roberto Firmino that gave Liverpool an attack that purred at times, and on 17 minutes Divok Origi broke through after an Ibe run and back heeled the ball past Federici, only for Adam Smith to clear off the line. Unfortunately for AFCB, Nathaniel Clyne was on hand to ram the ball home from close in, and while the Cherries pushed all match to get an equaliser, their best chances came early, and Junior Stanislas was the player that probably will have most to regret about not slipping the ball past Adam Bogdan. Fans got to see Tokelo Rantie in the last few minutes, but most pleasing of all is that there were no moments of dangerous hesitation at the back and the 1-0 cup defeat was a vast improvement on recent outings.
More pictures are now up on Match Day Gallery.
The team news was a little surprising, but it was a fairly strong AFCB line up. Andrew Surman was an absentee and a possible doubt for Sunday's match against Southampton. Simon Francis was moved to centre back with Adam Smith starting at right back. Arter replaced Surman and MacDonald made up the other side of the centre midfield pairing with Junior Stanislas playING in the number 10 role with Yann Kermorgant up front. Steve Cook and Lee Tomlin were among the subs.
The game started very abruptly with Firmino shooting wide in the first minute. AFCB regained their composure though and very quickly looked up for the fight. Ritchie sent a cross over that Pugh just missed out on.The Cherries then saw Stanislas have a fantastic chance. Arter had won the ball around the half way mark and had threaded Stanislas in to his left. Having stepped inside one man it looked like Junior was set to score but he hit his shot too close to Bogdan who made the save with his legs.
Liverpool started to reassert a bit of authority when Distin sliced a clearance which went out for the first corner. Federici chose to punch the ball clear, which was unorthodox but it did the job. Bournemouth were starting to get Arter on the ball a lot and he had a shot blocked on 14 minutes.
Jordan Ibe looked a challenge for Charlie Daniels to keep up with on the wing and he made a good ball into Firmino who got Federici to pull off his first big save tipping over the well hit shot for a corner. Liverpool were starting to drive the game more and on 17 minutes Firmino played a crisp ball through to Origi to run on to, and as Federici came out he backed heeled a shot towards goal. Smith was quick thinking and had run back to cover, clearing off the line but Nathan Clyne had the whole goal to aim out with Federici still not back and he finished smartly to put Liverpool 1-0 up.
AFCB came straight back through and Arter shot that went wide. Marc Pugh then got in the box and created a chance for Stanislas that he headed but Bogdan saved. Kermorgant was finding it hard to get involved, but Ritchie and Pugh were finding space on the wings to deliver crosses.
Problems for Liverpool came when Kolo Toure had to be subbed on 33 minutes and he was replaced by Martin Skrtel. They were soon testing Federici again though when Firmino tried a curling shot that Bournemouth's keeper caught well high to his left.
There was more confidence in AFCB's play than in recent games as was seen by Distin's dummy to get past Brannagan when just outside his own box. What we did not want to see was any yellow cards and Arter was lucky not to get pulled up having upended Origi and then Teixera in quick succession just before half time.
Liverpool had one more opportunity to extend the lead in the first half and Ibe was the player the created it with his strong wing play on the right. He crossed to Teixera who slammed his shot into the side netting. It had been a fairly even first half, but Liverpool had shown an instant of quality that had made the difference.
Second half
AFCB began well in the second half with an early corner. Simon Francis got in a good header from it, but it just went wide. Liverpool played much higher up the pitch as they sought to defend their goal and Distin and Smith were employed fairly regularly at just clearing AFCB's lines.
Some of the passing was being over hit and the Cherries were finding it harder to get out of their half. A particularly worrying moment was when Pugh was robbed of the ball from about 30 yards out and Firmino powered forward and hit a blistering drive wide. MacDonald was also trying to plug gaps in the midfield, but over did it on Joe Allen and picked up a yellow card.
Liverpool were still the team coming forward as the hour mark passed. Firmino again flashed a shot high and wide, but the Cherries were struggling to stem the tide. Brannagan was replaced by Lucas on 65 minutes and four minutes later AFCB made a double sub with Lee Tomlin and Josh King coming on for Kermorgant and Arter.
Lucas then hit a thunderbolt of a shot from 30 yards that Federici saved, top left. Adam was having a good game. Liverpool's only yellow card came when MacDoland was fouled by Joe Allen.
Tokelo Rantie made an appearance on 82 minutes to great cheers from AFCB supporters and Stanislas came off. It did not take long for Rantie to have a shot either and it sadly went well over the bar. With Lallana replacing Firmino, I think AFCB's defenders were quite happy about that change. The last few minutes saw the Cherries give it one last go with Ritchie coming closest with a shot at Bogdan's left hand post that the keeper pushed out for a corner. But it remained 1-0 and Liverpool had made it to the quarter finals.
Summary
It was an enjoyable game to be at. some of the AFCB fans on the coaches had got caught up in traffic and were a bit late but at least they saw a much more solid Bournemouth performance. It is a pity that they are out of the cup but the needs was for some confidence to return and Eddie Howe will have been pleased with the players efforts. Liverpool did not have anywhere near their strongest team out but is was a full stadium and a good experience for the AFCB players.
AFCB
Federici, Smith, Francis, Distin, Daniels, Ritchie, Arter (King 71), MacDonald, Pugh, Stanislas (Rantie 82), Kermorgant (Tomlin 71)
AFCB Subs
Allsop, Cook, Cargill, O'Kane, Tomlin, King, Rantie
AFCB Ratings
Federici 8, Smith 6, Francis 6, Distin 6, Daniels 6, Ritchie 6, Arter 7, MacDonald 6, Pugh 6, Stanislas 6, Kermorgant 6
Liverpool
Bogdan, Clyne, Toure (Skrtel 33), Lovren, Randall, Allen, Brannagan (Lucas 65), Tiexeira, Ibe, Firmino (Lallana 87), Origi
Liverpool Subs
Skrtel, Fulton, Lucas, Coutinhio, Lallana, Moreno, Sinclair
Referee watch: Michael Jones 5/10 - missed playing the advantage more and annoying got in the way of a good AFCB move!
Liverpool 1 v 0 AFCB
28 October 2015
Attendance: 41,948
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| Kolo Toure leads the Liverpool players down the line. |
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| The 96 remembered. |
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| Another massive flag in the Kop. |
The team news was a little surprising, but it was a fairly strong AFCB line up. Andrew Surman was an absentee and a possible doubt for Sunday's match against Southampton. Simon Francis was moved to centre back with Adam Smith starting at right back. Arter replaced Surman and MacDonald made up the other side of the centre midfield pairing with Junior Stanislas playING in the number 10 role with Yann Kermorgant up front. Steve Cook and Lee Tomlin were among the subs.
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| AFC Bournemouth stride towards the cameras. |
AFCB fan Sam gives his view prematch on Cherry Chimes FanCam.
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| It's kick off time. |
Liverpool started to reassert a bit of authority when Distin sliced a clearance which went out for the first corner. Federici chose to punch the ball clear, which was unorthodox but it did the job. Bournemouth were starting to get Arter on the ball a lot and he had a shot blocked on 14 minutes.
Jordan Ibe looked a challenge for Charlie Daniels to keep up with on the wing and he made a good ball into Firmino who got Federici to pull off his first big save tipping over the well hit shot for a corner. Liverpool were starting to drive the game more and on 17 minutes Firmino played a crisp ball through to Origi to run on to, and as Federici came out he backed heeled a shot towards goal. Smith was quick thinking and had run back to cover, clearing off the line but Nathan Clyne had the whole goal to aim out with Federici still not back and he finished smartly to put Liverpool 1-0 up.
AFCB came straight back through and Arter shot that went wide. Marc Pugh then got in the box and created a chance for Stanislas that he headed but Bogdan saved. Kermorgant was finding it hard to get involved, but Ritchie and Pugh were finding space on the wings to deliver crosses.
Problems for Liverpool came when Kolo Toure had to be subbed on 33 minutes and he was replaced by Martin Skrtel. They were soon testing Federici again though when Firmino tried a curling shot that Bournemouth's keeper caught well high to his left.
There was more confidence in AFCB's play than in recent games as was seen by Distin's dummy to get past Brannagan when just outside his own box. What we did not want to see was any yellow cards and Arter was lucky not to get pulled up having upended Origi and then Teixera in quick succession just before half time.
Liverpool had one more opportunity to extend the lead in the first half and Ibe was the player the created it with his strong wing play on the right. He crossed to Teixera who slammed his shot into the side netting. It had been a fairly even first half, but Liverpool had shown an instant of quality that had made the difference.
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| Just one down at the break. |
AFCB began well in the second half with an early corner. Simon Francis got in a good header from it, but it just went wide. Liverpool played much higher up the pitch as they sought to defend their goal and Distin and Smith were employed fairly regularly at just clearing AFCB's lines.
Some of the passing was being over hit and the Cherries were finding it harder to get out of their half. A particularly worrying moment was when Pugh was robbed of the ball from about 30 yards out and Firmino powered forward and hit a blistering drive wide. MacDonald was also trying to plug gaps in the midfield, but over did it on Joe Allen and picked up a yellow card.
Liverpool were still the team coming forward as the hour mark passed. Firmino again flashed a shot high and wide, but the Cherries were struggling to stem the tide. Brannagan was replaced by Lucas on 65 minutes and four minutes later AFCB made a double sub with Lee Tomlin and Josh King coming on for Kermorgant and Arter.
Lucas then hit a thunderbolt of a shot from 30 yards that Federici saved, top left. Adam was having a good game. Liverpool's only yellow card came when MacDoland was fouled by Joe Allen.
Tokelo Rantie made an appearance on 82 minutes to great cheers from AFCB supporters and Stanislas came off. It did not take long for Rantie to have a shot either and it sadly went well over the bar. With Lallana replacing Firmino, I think AFCB's defenders were quite happy about that change. The last few minutes saw the Cherries give it one last go with Ritchie coming closest with a shot at Bogdan's left hand post that the keeper pushed out for a corner. But it remained 1-0 and Liverpool had made it to the quarter finals.
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| Final whistle 1-0. |
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| A packed house under the scoreboard. |
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| A pretty strong performance from the Cherries. |
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| Jurgen Klopp has his first win. |
It was an enjoyable game to be at. some of the AFCB fans on the coaches had got caught up in traffic and were a bit late but at least they saw a much more solid Bournemouth performance. It is a pity that they are out of the cup but the needs was for some confidence to return and Eddie Howe will have been pleased with the players efforts. Liverpool did not have anywhere near their strongest team out but is was a full stadium and a good experience for the AFCB players.
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| AFCB players come towards the fans. |
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| Sylvain Distin gives his shirt away before leaving the pitch. |
AFCB
Federici, Smith, Francis, Distin, Daniels, Ritchie, Arter (King 71), MacDonald, Pugh, Stanislas (Rantie 82), Kermorgant (Tomlin 71)
AFCB Subs
Allsop, Cook, Cargill, O'Kane, Tomlin, King, Rantie
AFCB Ratings
Federici 8, Smith 6, Francis 6, Distin 6, Daniels 6, Ritchie 6, Arter 7, MacDonald 6, Pugh 6, Stanislas 6, Kermorgant 6
Liverpool
Bogdan, Clyne, Toure (Skrtel 33), Lovren, Randall, Allen, Brannagan (Lucas 65), Tiexeira, Ibe, Firmino (Lallana 87), Origi
Liverpool Subs
Skrtel, Fulton, Lucas, Coutinhio, Lallana, Moreno, Sinclair
Referee watch: Michael Jones 5/10 - missed playing the advantage more and annoying got in the way of a good AFCB move!
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