Bournemouth had to keep their attacking play going

Watching the players try and win back the control of the game against Crystal Palace when they had conceded made me proud of the way this Bournemouth team can play. They knew that in previous games that losing a goal had hurt them more than just the one goal, and this time they dug in and refused to let the goal Palace scored stand in their way.

When Brooks was taken off against Palace, AFCB needed to find a way to mount more attacks.

I don't think we can underestimate the importance of the return of Dan Gosling who added tremendous running energy into the team at that point. He just chases everything down and that enabled Bournemouth to win possession back at a key moment of the second-half. The passing went up a gear and it was Palace having to chase again.

With Josh King also filling in to midfield, Palace found it harder to attack and it was Bournemouth who suddenly had the game back in their hands. Fraser is continuing to keep his early form going and Lerma played one of his best games in the middle. Francis was constantly looking to play Wilson in at a moments notice, when he looked up, and the balance of the side was good with the team working as a unit.

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The biggest plus point for me was that Bournemouth didn't stop attacking. They knew they would have to defend at times, but as soon as they got the ball, the onus was to get forward to try and hurt Palace. It was that drive and energy to make things happen that I think finally got to the Palace players, who were really stretched to stop the Cherries. Mamdou Sakho just lost his cool for a moment, which was no more than the Cherries deserved, as they were the better team over the 90 minutes in terms of chances created. Late goals are always a possibility with AFCB now and if anything the team plays with more spirit in the last 10 minutes of games than at any other time.

Sakho lends an elbow to help Cherries beat Palace 2-1

Match Report
1 October 2018

AFCB 2 v 1 Crystal Palace

Attendance: 10,199

David Brooks gets his first goal for AFCB against Crystal Palace.

Games against Crystal Palace are always tight and there was plenty of aggression from both teams in a spirited game, but Mamadou over stepped the line with an elbow on Lerma that threw the game in Bournemouth's favour. Junior Stanislas made no mistake with a chipped penalty and Bournemouth snatched a 2-1 win having seen David Brooks get his first Premier League goal. While Van Aanholdt got a goal back, it was Bournemouth asking the questions in the second half once the scores were level with Wilson and Gosling going close before the penalty.

Eddie Howe switched Adam Smith to the left back position and Simon Francis started at right-back with Lewis Cook coming into the starting line up for the first time in this season's Premier League games.

Match Commentary
David Brooks puts the first warning cross into the box. Bournemouth are kicking to the Steve Fletcher stand and Wilson plays a ball square to Brooks who has picked out the top left corner. It's 1-0 to the Cherries with 5 minutes gone.

Palace have a free-kick and Milivojevic puts it over. Max Meyer is next to have a shot right at Begovic.

Nathan Aké goes close with a header. Adam Smith is getting plenty of crosses in. Callum Wilson only finds the side netting after put into space by Fraser.

Milivojevic has a shot blocked. Brooks is carded after taking out Van Aanhot
King wins a free-kick and the cross from Brooks is headed by Steve Cook, but straight to the keeper.

McArthur heads wide and he's offside. Meyer is into the box and Ayew mis-controls the ball. McArthur  wins a corner. Aké is fouled. It's 1-0 to AFCB at half-time.

Bournemouth narrowly won possession in the first-half 51 per cent to 49 per cent. There were four shots by both teams and Bournemouth managed two shots on target to Crystal Palace's one. The Cherries had one corner and Palace two.

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Second half
Van Aanhokt has taken out Zaha by mistake. Lerma has found King and Fraser was put through but the pass is too strong for him.

McArthur has turned in the box but it's well over the bar. Aké has to make a clearance with Brooks losing it for a second in his own box. Zaha is blocked.

Townshend is looking to take on Adam Smith.

Zaha and the ball is out to the left with Van Aanholt and he cuts back inside Francis and he has found the top corner it's 1-1. Suspicion of off-side there, 55-minutes gone!

Dan Gosling is coming on for David Brooks on 58 minutes.

Palace are controlling things. Here's a chance. Fraser and Francis, headed back to Wilson by King but it's volleyed over.

Adam Smith, Francis and Wilson gets a corner on 62 minutes. Fraser to take Steve Cook is blocked. King, Aké now Wilson. Oh, he's just failed to connect, another corner.

Bournemouth are playing it up the field quickly. Fraser is on the right now and King on the left.

Aké has to head clear at the far post. A shot from Townshend goes just wide of the right post. It takes three to force the ball out off of King. Lewis Cook gets a good covering tackle in. Lerma and Fraser to Adam Smith. Wide again to Fraser and Palace clear.

Milivojevic  is caught by Lewis Cook. Fraser has gone down. Francis almost gets Wilson in.
It's end to end. Zaha's lost the ball, goal kick.

Just 17 minutes left to find a winner. Gosling into King but he's blocked.

Gosling loses the ball and Palace break. Lewis Cook has it now. Adam Smith and King Bournemouth just keeping possession ticking over. Townsend has been booked. Free-kick, Fraser takes and Francis hits it low and well-wide.

McArthur is subbed for Schlupp on 77 minutes. Aké clashed heads with Ayew. A nose injury to Aké. Just 11 minutes to go.

Steve Cook has seen the ball out for a Palace corner. Ayew is coming off and Sørloth comes on, nine minutes left.

Fraser gets on the ball and Wilson has a shot saved by Hennessey's legs and Lerma puts the follow up wide! Wilson should have put the Cherries ahead there. Fraser did everything right for him.

King has come off and Stanislas is on with six minutes left. Kouyate is also replacing Meyer. Lerma out to Francis and Wilson is on the right, crosses and Gosling's header is saved by the keeper.

Free-kick to Bournemouth. Fraser takes and Lerma is down in the box, Sakho elbows Lerma and it's a penalty. Stanislas to take in the 87th minutes. It's a goal, down the middle 2-1!!!

Van Aanholt down the left. Zaha turns but is met by four red and black shirts. Aké clears from Townsend. Four minutes of added time to play.

Lerma and Kouyate get in a tangle. Lerma is pulled away by his teammates, but is going to be carded. Cards also for Kouyate and Tomkins. Begovic comes and makes a claim.

Palace have the ball. A long ball it's headed away by Stanislas then Aké. Fraser is carded for throwing the ball away. Free-kick for Palace. The header is wide by Sørloth.

Brooks has come of age.

Summary
Bournemouth had the first-half well-managed and deservedly took the lead with Brook's great strike. Palace were much better in the second-half and fought back hard. But even with Van Aanholdt's goal, Bournemouth looked capable of nicking it and while Wilson missed a super chance and Gosling also found Hennessey hard to beat, Mamadou Sakho gifted the Cherries the win with a needless flailing arm aimed at Lerma. With Bournemouth having Gosling helping out in midfield, the Cherries looked very strong and they are creating chances. This was a really positive performance at home.

AFCB Line-up

AFCB Subs: Boruc, Rico, Gosling, Stanislas, Mousset, Defoe

AFCB Ratings
Begovic 6, Francis 6, S Cook 6, Aké 8, A Smith 7, Brooks 7, L Cook 6, Lerma 7, Fraser 7, Wilson 6, King 6

Cherry Chimes MOM: Nathan Aké

Referee Watch: Mike Dean - 7/10 maybe let down by the assistant referee over the Van Aanholt goal. But spotted and gave the penalty.

Crystal Palace
Hennessey, Wan-Bisaka, Tomkins, Sakho, Van Aanholt, Milivojevic, Meyer (Kouyate 84), McArthur (Schlupp 77), Townsend, Zaha. Ayew (Sørloth 82)

Palace Subs
Guaita, Ward, Kelly, Schlupp, Kouyate, Puncheon, Sørloth

Are Crystal Palace on the up?

I am a bit anxious that the feel good factor is re-emerging at Crystal Palace. This last week they have climbed to 18th in the table with a draw against WBA and talk of a new expanded Selhurst Park stadium befitting of a Premier League club.

AFCB go to Selhurst Park this Saturday.

Their problem is will they play well enough this season to retain their status? Well, Palace are past masters at picking up points when they have to. The win they had against Chelsea is proof that they are a far better team than their position shows in the table and while it hasn't all been going well for them this season with the earliest managerial sacking in Premier League history, Roy Hodgson has them organised again and playing on the front foot.

Where they still have a weakness is surely in defence. Patrick van Aanholdt is still getting used to the English game having gone on loads of loans and struggling at Smderland before his move to Palace, Mamadou Sakho has not been as influential as he was at the end of last season, while Scott Dann has been out of form and Jeffrey Schlupp is still making his way at the club. Hodgson will make them more settled though at the back and if he gets the foundation right back there, we know that they have pace and skill in abundance further forward.

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Wilfiried Zaha and Andros Townsend could fit into many Premier League sides and the big man Christian Benteke is back now, even if he is not in goalscoring form yet. Jason Puncheon is now the captain and no doubt he has been feeling the pressure with the start the Eagles have made.

I think palace just need to play games to improve now. They have strong players in Rubens Loftus-Cheek and Yohan Cabaye in the middle and once they get an understanding of each others game they should pick up. But a set back now could really hinder their progress and of course do wonders for AFCB. It's a big game in how the bottom six might unfold and Eddie Howe has to get this across to his players without making them frightened of going out and playing their best football. Crystal Palace are on the up but AFCB can do something about that.

Crystal Palace Home Form
LWDDW

AFCB Away Form
LLWWD

Defensive woes for AFCB

Now with the injuries and suspensions for the defenders in the squad, AFCB are down to the bare bones. While Adam Smith, Charlie Daniels, Steve Cook and Tyrone Mings are likely to make up next week's back four, I am starting to wonder if Bailey Cargill will be recalled from his loan period at Gillingham that was due to end in January anyway. Bailey could certainly be used as a sub and if Eddie can't get a loan player or permanent signing in the next couple of weeks, we could be seeing more of Bailey back in the squad, which I am sure was not part of the plan for him. 

Nathan Aké is going back to Chelsea.

The recall of Nathan Aké could not have come at a worse time, along with Simon Francis' suspension. It's no wonder that AFCB tried to appeal the captain's red card against Arsenal. Injuries to Marc Wilson, hamstring, and Brad Smith's head injury at Millwall have just added further discomfort to preparations against Hull City. While Hull have not got the best goalscoring record they will be at home and it may just be that Eddie has to play a back three up there.

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Would Daniels, Cook and Adam Smith be such a bad way to go up at Hull City? Three at the back could certainly be a solution. The players enjoyed playing like that against Chelsea even if the result was not great. There are also plenty of midfielders to play and put on the bench now with Lewis Cook coming back towards full fitness, even if Emerson Hyndman looks set for a loan period at Glasgow Rangers.

In the longer term it seems that AFCB might be in talks with Liverpool over the recruitment of Mamadou Sakho and/or Joe Gomez, according to the Daily Mail.

Have AFCB the players to overpower this Liverpool side?

If Eddie Howe wanted any clues about how to get on top of this Liverpool side he will have learnt valuable guidance from last night's amazing match against Borussia Dortmund. The German side played with power and fast accurate passing in the opening minutes, while their finishing in those first 10 minutes was simply lethal. It was breathtaking and somewhat unexpected, despite the reputation of the Bundesliga side, as the first leg has been reasonably comfortable for the reds. The comeback for Liverpool was a repetition of their famous Champions League final win over AC Milan in Istanbul in 2005. Klopp fist pumping though is something I don't want to see at Den Court on Sunday!

Liverpool play with a lot of pride and they are a hard side to beat
 these days. I only hope they are tiered from their midweek exploits.

AFCB might not have quite the experience of player as Dortmund, but there are some signs that a quick start is what the Cherries will need to unsettle the Klopp's side. The back four of Clyne, Lovren, Sakho and Moreno were fully stretched by the movement of Dortmund's forwards and their failure to get close to the German side made it all too easy for Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan early on. I can't say that Mignloet in goal fills me with confidence in goal either.

So the Cherries can look to get at Liverpool, but it was through the middle that the German's got on top and for that side of the game AFCB really need Harry Arter back in the side. I still expect him to sit out this game though - apparently AFCB are waiting on a specialist report on his injury. AFCB have usually looked light in midfield when taking on the top sides but having seen last night's game, Eddie Howe might well feel that sticking with four in midfield early on at least is the way to go. It means the Cherries will need Surman and probably Gosling to keep their work rate supremely high and supply King and Grabban with the kind of passes into pockets of space where they can get shots off early.

Harry Arter at Liverpool earlier this season. This game is made
for a player like Harry but is he going to fit enough yet?

If AFCB lose the midfield battle though it will be a testing game for them. Liverpool don't make it easy for teams to get down the sides of them and  to get into those positions AFCB will need to bring their A game or passing. We saw Marco Reus ride tackles and get his pass away against Liverpool on Thursday, but have the Cherries got a player that is equally strong and determined not to get pushed off the ball?

Probable AFCB side:
Boruc, Francis, Elphick, Cook, Daniels, Ritchie, Gosling, Surman, Gradel, King, Grabban

Subs: Federici, Distin, MacDonald, Stanislas, Iturbe, Pugh, Wilson