Match Description
AFC Bournemouth 0 v 1 Fulham
20 April 2019
Attendance: 10,511
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| AFCB welcome Fulham to Dean Court. |
Looking on paper this was Bournemouth's best chance of picking up three points form their remaining games, but football doesn't work that way. A Mitrovich penalty settled the match just after half-time. It was a game that will soon be forgotten by Bournemouth fans, even if it was Eddie Howe's 500th managerial game. Poor shooting and a failure to grab hold of the game saw Bournemouth flounder in the heat and ultimately come up short.
Adam Smith was injured in the warm up and was replaced by Junior Stanislas at left back. But otherwise the team was the same as that which played so well at Brighton.
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| It's a hot, sunny, day in Bournemouth. |
There was no hanging about for Bournemouth at the start of this game. Fraser played a good ball up the line for Callum Wilson in the first minute only to see the striker hook his first shot over.
A corner was won by Bournemouth soon after and Aké had his header cleared off the line and Fraser then drilled a shot wide of the left post.
Mepham was caught with a high foot from Mitrovic before Brooks found himself left high and dry without the ball from a good tackle form Tim Ream. Gosling returned the high foot on Mitrovich as Fulham began to get more possession.
Aké was in the thick of it making clearances, before Bournemouth went on the attack. Brooks had a shot blocked by Joe Bryan before Fraser crossed for King, who shot over from just six yards out.
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When Wilson was fouled on the edge of the box Stanislas took the kick and pumped it over the bar. He hurt his knee and was subbed with Bournemouth bringing Jack Simpson on after 23 minutes.
Mitrovich pulled out wide before finding Sessegnon who fired a shot across the face of goal. Lerma was playing so deep that he was splitting the centre-backs, and was often Bournemouth's back player. He was playing some great balls though from the back and picked out Fraser some 50 metres down the pitch.
A mistake saw Steve Cook have to battle back against Mitrovich and put in a brilliant tackle just as the forward reached the box on 34 minutes. Boruc had to make a save from Denis Oddi's header from the corner.
Both Zambo Anguissa and Michael Sheri saw shots go over as Fulham got stronger as the half went on.
Mepham fouled Babel just before half-time but it ended 0-0 after 45 minutes.
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| A goalless first half. |
Second half
Fulham attacked quickly with Micheal Seri crossing for Babel to head over. Fraser won a free kick that almost led to Bournemouth Scoring. Wilson just couldn't get the ball to drop and the chance went begging.
Simpson caught Mitcovich in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Mitrovich calmly stroked the ball in to Boruc's right. It was 0-1 to Fulham on 53 minutes.
King put in a good cross but Oddi chested it down for Sergio Rico. Fulham's fans were singing 'One-nil to the championship!'
Michel Seri was finding more and more space and Babel couldn't take advantage of it. Eddie Howe decided to sub Josh King for Solanke on 61 minutes.
Joe Ryan got behind Bournemouth on the wing and Sessegnon had a chance to make it 0-2 but shot right at Boruc. Shortly after, Brouc had to save again from Sessegnon.
Bournemouth were getting sloppy and Steve Cook made a mistake in the middle, giving the ball to Sambo Anguissa, which he got back to recover.
A free kick for Wilson led to Gosling getting on the ball and Wilson shot but had the ball saved by Sergio Rico's legs, while Solanke couldn't get a shot off before Fulham cleared.
Fraser then shot well with Rico making the save as Wilson went in with his feet. A better chance fell to Fraser on 74 minutes, Gosling played the ball through to Fraser on the left who had his head up and shot over.
Mitrovic was carded for a bad challenge on Aké. Fulham kept coming forward with Babel before Mitrovich shot wide.
Mepham was subbed for Mousset on 77 minutes. Steve Cook was then carded for a bad foul on Babel on 80 minutes.
Brooks got forward and crossed only to see the ball bounce of the bar with Gosling hoping for a better pull back at the far post. Lerma then put a deft chip over for Brooks who volleyed wide.
Fulham subbed Babel for Ayite with four minutes left. Solanke was making runs but couldn't get a shot away. Zambo Anguissa was subbed on 90 minutes for Nordtveit to come on.
With six minutes of added time Bournemouth had some time to get an equaliser but Fulham were time wasting. Mousset put the ball down for a goal kick and Oddi kicked the ball away. Rather than book Oddi the referee mistakenly assumed it was Rico who had time wasted and booked the Fulham keeper.
It was Fulham who might have scored again though. Sessegnon passed to Ayite who found Mitrovich, but it was a weak shot that Boruc could easily save.
Then with time running out Bournemouth won a free kick. Mousset got his head on the end of it but headed weakly at goal and Rico made the save.
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| A 0-1 home defeat for the Cherries to the second bottom team. |
Bournemouth kept plugging away but never looked like scoring. It was quite an outstanding reverse in terms of finishing quality to what we had seen only seven days ago at Brighton. Bournemouth weren't shot shy, but they just didn't ht the target with any power or belief that they would score. Fulham were perhaps fortunate to win a penalty, but they had a good amount of possession and organised themselves well against Bournemouth in the second half. A draw might have been a better reflection on the game, but it was a surprise three points for Fulham and their first away win of the season.
AFCB line up
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| AFCB Subs: Begovic, Simpson, Hyndman, Ofoborh, Surridge, Solanke, Mousset. |
Boruc 7, Stanislas 5 (Simpson 5) S Cook 7, Mepham 5, Aké 6, Brooks 6, Lerma 8, Gosling 6,
Fraser 7, King 6, Wilson 6
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| Eddie Howe and his staff looked isolated as the players found it hard to come over half way to say sorry to the fans. |
Fulham
25 Rico, 4 Odoi, 20 Le Marchand, 13 Ream, 23 Bryan, 5 Chambers,
29 Zambo Anguissa (Nordtveit 89), 3 R Sessegnon, 24 Seri (Christie 79), 12 Babel (Ayité 86), 9 Mitrovic
Fulham Subs
7 Kebano, 11 Ayité, 14 Schürrle, 16 Nordtveit, 22 Christie, 31 Fabri, 56 Elliott
Referee watch - David Coote 3/10: The wrongful yellow card for Sergio Rico says it all.
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