Lack of fire power catches Bournemouth out

The Cherries managed 11 shots against Southampton, with three on target, which just wasn't enough to get that important goal. There might not have been much between the teams, but the Saints had the goal scoring Danny Ings and of course it hurts that he was brought up in AFCB's academy.

Bournemouth fail to hit the target frequently and
Saints out more woe on Bournemouth's bid to stay up.

Bournemouth contributed to their own defeat. Gone was the flowing passing of the second half against man City. Bournemouth were pensive and troubled by the occasion. They knew they could afford to slip up, but they looked lacking in quality and it eventually started to effect confidence.

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I am not sure what happened to David Brooks. He might has well not have been out there for his contribution, which just isn't like Brooks. Perhaps he didn't feel well, but Eddie Howe had to change things at half-time. His replacement Harry Wilson found it just as hard going, when he gave a penalty away. We wanted our attacking players to be causing up the other end of the pitch, but nothing was running for the strikers.

Josh King had difficulty staying on his feet for most of the time. Callum Wilson wasn't at his cutting-edge best in front of goal. With Stanislas unable to show his quality from previous games and Bournemouth playing Lewis Cook on the right after half-time, the team just wasn't properly balanced going forward.

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Even when Surridge gave a glimmer of hope by stabbing home a close range shot, the VAR Gods were not on Bournemouth's side. Eddie Howe will realise that he hasn't had a good enough strike force this season, when he looks back on events. Solanke did his best when he came on, but he didn't hit any shots with enough power or accuracy to trouble McCarthy in Saints' goal.

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The supply route we can argue was also not good enough with Billing and Lerma unable to make telling contributions going forward. So Bournemouth have to consider that they have only scored seven goals since the restart in eight games. How was that going to be enough when the team has only managed one clean sheet in that time? If Bournemouth are relegated there can be no complaints. They haven't been good enough.

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