Bournemouth stun Leicester before 10-man fight back 4-2

Match Report

15 September 2018

AFC Bournemouth 4 v 2 Leicester City 

Attendance: 10, 543

Bournemouth and Leicester get ready to get their fifth game in the Premier League underway.

Come to Dean Court if you want top entertainment, thrills, goals, sendings offs and comebacks. This game had the lot as well as some unbelievable refereeing. What can't be denied is the best team won and for the first 87 minutes they did it in faultless style. Bournemouth galloped into a 3-0 lead by half time with Ryan Fraser making devastating breakaways and finishing cleanly to crush Leicester hopes. While Fraser didn't get an early penalty decision, Pereira did unluckily hand one to Bournemouth on 40 minutes and Josh King reliably sent Kasper Schmeichel the wrong way. Leicester had gone close with Vardy thwarted by Begovic and Maddison seeing his follow up come off the bar, but the game looked over by half time. Leicester battled on, and while Harry Maguire was lucky to stay on Wes Morgan put in one foul too many, and was sent off. Just to complete Bournemouth's scoring, Ryan Fraser slipped round the back of Leicester's defence and pulled back a ball for Adam Smith to make it 4-0. Done and dusted! Well, not quite.  Diego Rico awarded Leicester an 88th minute penalty which Maddison scored, before Albrighton headed in another goal in the 89th minute to make it 4-2.

Lots of goals are about to be seen at Dean Court.

With Ryan Fraser deemed fit to play there was no place for Marc Pugh and David Brooks returned to the right wing which meant Simon Francis was moved to the bench. Jermain Defoe was fit again and joined Francis on the bench.

There are more pictures on Match Day Gallery.

Leicester fan Luis gives a pre-match interview to Cherry Chimes.

Bournemouth were given early warning of Leicester's strike power when Maddison clipped a ball over to Vardy who volleyed  poorly wide in the fourth minute. Bournemouth added further pressure on themselves with Steve Cook passing out poorly from the back.

Vardy was in again on eight minutes, from Ghezzal's pass down the middle, but Begovic was out quickly to save and Vardy tried to make the most of it by running into the keeper, for which he was jeered at for trying to cheat a penalty. A shot from Ghezzal was a bit easier for Begovic to save, but it was Leicester that had started well.

Harry Maguire picked up a booking for body checking Callum Wilson on 12 minutes, and it looked like it could be a difficult afternoon for the England centre-back. Aké's header from the free-kick lacked power and direction though.

Morgan and Wilson wrestled on half way with Wilson winning the free kick before Rico and Fraser worked some short passes down the left and Fraser go in behind and was taken down by Pereira - no penalty! The referee was pointing instead for a goal kick. Lerma was playing well in midfield holding the ball up with three Leicester players around him with no trouble.

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Begovic was catching crosses cleanly and Bournemouth had dealt with Leicester's attacks well before King made a break and passed through to Ryan Fraser on the left who steadied himself, before cutting inside Wes Morgan, and beating Schmeichel with a low-curling shot, to put Bournemouth one up on 19 minutes.

Leicester had a chance to hit back when Maddison went down in the D, but the free kick hit the wall. Referee Craig Pawson was getting plenty of stick for his decisions which became more hysterical when King was taken out by Maguire's bodycheck on half way and yet no booking was given. To make matters worse Lerma was carded for a lesser foul on Maddison moments later.

With Gosling losing out on the ball on half way to Maddison, Leicester pushed for an equaliser on 33 minutes. Maddison again sent Vardy though and Begovic made a great save before the ball came back to Maddison who shot at goal with Lerma chasing, but Begovic brought his right arm down on the shot, and the the ball hit into the ground, before it looped up off and came off the crossbar! 

It was a let off and Begovic was the hero. Aké and Rico got things going from the back and found Wilson who turned Maguire well and raced away before playing Fraser through again. The Wee-man shot under Schmeichel to make it 2-0 on on 36 minutes. Within three minutes there was another chance to extend the lead when a Pereira handled the ball in the box. It was a soft penalty and Josh King made it look easy to score, as he slotted the ball to the right of Schmeichel who went the wrong way.

In a way it was a shame Fraser had not grabbed the ball for his hat-trick, but King was the designated penalty taker and Bournemouth had already had one penalty miss this season and didn't want another. King was then held back by Morgan, in added time, with Morgan importantly pick up his first yellow card.

Going well at half time.

Second half

Bournemouth saw Aké limp off at the end of the first half but he was running freely again in the second half. Wilson had a deflected shot go just wide at the start of the half. From the corner the ball came back to Fraser who whipped in a shot come cross that Schmeichel had to tip over.

Begovic got down well to his left when Maddison shot from distance and when Demarai Gray went down in the box Pawson waved play on. Leicester subbed Ghezzal and Gray on 61 minutes and brought on Albrighton and Iheanacho.

Begovic was catching well, while Steve Cook was getting blocks in. Cook even went forward and had a long shot on 66 minutes that flew wide of the left post.

David Brooks was subbed on 68 minutes for Simon Francis. Leicester's Wes Morgan got a second yellow for taking down Adam Smith and was dismissed. Schmeichel was also booked on 70 minutes for arguing, before Wilson was booked for catching Maddison on 71 minutes. King forced another corner before Lerma was subbed on 78 minutes and Lewis Cook came on.

Bournemouth were being stretched and Gosling was booked for a foul on Vardy. Begovic caught bravely again before launching an attack. Rico and Fraser down the left shot off and when Fraser pulled a pass back for Adam Smith, Smith slotted the ball past Schmeichel in the bottom left corner - 4-0! A great time to score on Adam Smith's 100th appearance for AFCB.

Vardy was taken off on 84 minutes and Johnny Evans replaced him. Mousset replaced Josh King as well.

Bournemouth made a mistake when Pereira went down in the box from Rico's mis-timed challenge and James Maddison scored from the spot to make it 4-1 on 88 minutes. It was more concerning when Lewis Cook had a shot blocked, and Iheanacho set up a break and crossed to Albrighton who headed past Begovic in the 89th minute to make it 4-2.

Bournemouth survived the five minutes of added time without any further scares, but a bit of the shine off the win had been taken off with the two goals conceded in the last couple of minutes.

Four goals at home for the Cherries.

Mousset and Maguire

Summary
Another great home win that makes it 10 points from five games and allows Bournemouth to sit in a lofty fifth place in the table. Bournemouth could have won this game by a bigger margin, and yet they also showed they are capable of conceding too. For once though, it was Bournemouth driving the game and they took most of their chances in the first 45 minutes, which made it a more comfortable afternoon than it might have been. Begovic was excellent in goal for most of the match, and both he, and the back four will be disappointed to have not kept the clean sheet. That's something to work on, but the more significant fact is that Bournemouth are getting used to winning at Dean Court and that feeling will hopefully stay with the players for some time.

AFCB line up

AFCB Subs: Boruc, Francis, L Cook, Surman, Ibe, Mousset, Defoe

AFCB Ratings
Begovic 8, A Smith 7, S Cook 7, Aké 6, Rico 7, Brooks 6, Lerma 7, Gosling 6, Fraser 9, King 7, Wilson 7

Cherry Chimes' MoM - Ryan Fraser

Steve Cook was happy enough with the win.

Eddie Howe shows his appreciation for the support.

Ref Watch: Craig Pawson - 0/10 poor from start to finish. Should have given early Bournemouth penalty, didn't send Maguire off.

Leicester City
Schmeichel, Pereira, Morgan, Maguire, Chilwell, Ndidi, Mendy, Ghezzal (Albrighton 61), Maddison, Gray (Iheanacho 61), Vardy (Evans 84)

Leicester City Subs
Evans, Iheanacho, Albrighton, Ward, Amartey, Iborra, Fuchs