The last five minutes of the match against Aston Villa could have been a problem for AFCB if Villa had not already got that feeling of being down and out of hope. They could well have snatched something from the game and it kind of reveals that AFCB are still not quite at the level of having that killer instinct to shut out games with clean sheets even when they had hardly been troubled for 90 minutes.
It was not a day for any last minute crazy antics and AFCB had the measure of Villa you felt from the start. The passing and movement in the first 20 minutes were far superior to anything that the claret shirts seemed capable of providing and the Cherries were deserving of their first half lead.
Call it good play on the part of Villa or lack of concentration on AFCB's part, there is still a clear weakness at the heart of defence when an opposition player gets the central defenders on the turn and backing off. During the game I thought Villa did not press nearly hard enough to pose any real pressure on the Cherries' back line and as we have seen when playing Man City, the good teams don't give you any space when playing out from the back.
While the Cherries were allowed to build their attacks and play with a good deal of patience, I was not expecting AFCB to concede after the way the game was being played out. It was perhaps fortunate that Villa's goal came late on as it did not really give them a chance to build any pressure on AFCB's goal in the remaining minutes. The Cherries have at least learnt that they have to hold on to games when they have been so dominant and while we saw Artur Boruc playfully moving his goal kick from one side of the box to the other when it had been hurriedly placed there by Adama Traore - infuriating for the opposition. UTCIAD!
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| Francis and Gosling compete for the ball in the warm up at Villa Park. |
Call it good play on the part of Villa or lack of concentration on AFCB's part, there is still a clear weakness at the heart of defence when an opposition player gets the central defenders on the turn and backing off. During the game I thought Villa did not press nearly hard enough to pose any real pressure on the Cherries' back line and as we have seen when playing Man City, the good teams don't give you any space when playing out from the back.
While the Cherries were allowed to build their attacks and play with a good deal of patience, I was not expecting AFCB to concede after the way the game was being played out. It was perhaps fortunate that Villa's goal came late on as it did not really give them a chance to build any pressure on AFCB's goal in the remaining minutes. The Cherries have at least learnt that they have to hold on to games when they have been so dominant and while we saw Artur Boruc playfully moving his goal kick from one side of the box to the other when it had been hurriedly placed there by Adama Traore - infuriating for the opposition. UTCIAD!
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