Bournemouth let Everton off the hook

It's never easy to see your team having to hold on to a lead at any point. Bournemouth are the typical advocate of making you feel that they have the game by the scruff of the neck, but then it so often slips away as it did against Everton.

Bournemouth had the game in their pocket.

A win away from home is always a marvellous thing to have, and while it didn't happen this time, there is a sense that Bournemouth will trouble teams on their own grounds now which is something that we didn't see at WBA or Arsenal. AFCB still have to go for the kill when they get a goal up, and while they did that for a while after they scored, they found it a different game when Everton brought on Davies and Niasse.

It is surprising that the Cherries found it hard to react when Everton got back level, but I do believe the game in mid-week that went into extra time against Brighton won't have helped, as Josh King was subbed perhaps earlier than he would have been and Francis, Ibe and Gosling will all have been feeling it in their legs having played 120 minutes against Brighton. It's a mental tiredness as well, because Bournemouth had Everton where they wanted them with 70 minutes or so gone, and as soon as Niass got the equaliser it was as if all the good work counted for nothing. So perhaps we should not be so surprised that Everton ended up getting another goal to win the game.

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Broomhill Garden Conservatories

The game is a results business and at the moment the results are hard to come by, but this is the kind of game that will make the team stronger when they are next leading a game and knowing they must be even more determined to kill a game off.

The Daily Mail - The Verdict