Stoke snatch first win as Cherries lose Wilson 2-1

Match Report

Stoke City 2 v 1 AFCB

26 September 2015

Attendance: 27,742 (including 1635 Cherries) 
This was a record attendance 
at the Britannia stadium

Stoke City v AFCB - the teams are led out.

There are really small margins that determine whether a team wins or loses in this league. Stoke City know that well enough having not won a game before this match, but when the Cherries lost their golden goal scorer after nine minutes it was an upward battle for AFCB and Stoke won a lot of the personal battles in the first half. That dominance was reinforced with a tap in goal for Walters after half an hour once Marho Arnautovic had got to the byline and got the better of Simon Francis. A more galvanised Bournemouth side attacked with persistence in the second half and there fightback really came alive the faultless Jack Butland was finally beaten by a well struck low shot from Dan Gosling with 14 minutes to go. Perhaps AFCB scored too early as with just five minutes to go a Stoke move up the right by Glen Johnson saw Mame Diouf head in from six yards to earn Stoke their first home win of the season.

AFCB kept the same starting 11 from the Sunderland match and welcomed Josh King back onto the subs bench. Meanwhile, Stoke could bring in  Wollscheid and Charlie Adam to their line up.

Stoke City fans John, Nick and Mack talk about the 
form of Mark Hughes' team. I must admit the Stoke fans were a pleasure
 to talk to and made AFCB fans very welcome.

AFCB fan Barren wanted to see Glenn Murray start. 
The tannoy system got us today but AFCB fans were in optimistic mood.

There are more images on Match Day Gallery.

The initial exchanges were fairly often broken up with free kicks and both teams struggled to get their passing going with much consistency and accuracy. Steve Cook did not do much to settle nerves when he sliced a ball out of play. Any such initial problems suddenly seemed very minor compared to the injury that Callum Wilson then sustained on 8 minutes. His knee gave way after a challenge from Wollscheid and he managed to get up and tried to jog it off on the side line. While he did not look at ease he did come back on but broke down again almost immediately and we had nine minutes of him being attended to until he was stretchered off and the game resumed.

Glenn Murray was now thrust into the action and the match continued with Wollscheid making a mess of his clearance. AFCB fans were wondering if they would have many players left the way things ere going as Pugh went down next and then Tomlin started to hobble. Where the protection was from referee Lee Mason was I have no idea, but he was not the Cherries favourite man on the pitch. 

Stoke's first bit of quality play came on 23 minutes when Walters found Bojan who saw his shot deflect off Steve Cook and Boruc made a save. Keeping the ball was troublesome for AFCB as Ritchie was next to lose it. Sylvain Distin was looking more assured and was winning the aerial battles. Yet, Francis soon knew he would have a difficult day with Arnautovic forcing a corner down Stoke's left wing. Then a shot from distance from Glenn Whelan moved viciously through the players and Boruc just got enough of himself to keep the shot out for a corner.

Stoke were well in control and were winning the centre midfield battle and using the wings well. Pressure was finally released with Whelan's foul on Tomlin. But the annoying pattern that seemed to happen more than a few times is that Glenn Murray would find himself offside and merely hand back possession to Stoke City who were growing in confidence. When Murray was clipped from 30 yards out, we prayed for a Matt Ritchie special strike but he hit it straight at Jack Butland.

Stoke's reply was to get the ball to Arnautovic down the left and he had the beating of Francis who slipped in the box. Once Arnautovic had reached the byline, Boruc guarded his post but the cross found Johnathan Walters who simply stabbed the ball home from six yards. It was 1-0 to Stoke and AFCB were up against it with 32 minutes gone.

While the Cherries responded with some strong play it was costly to see Lee Tomlin not shoot again when given room on the edge of the box, instead choosing to pass to Ritchie who was wide on the right, but he only found Murray at the far post who managed a looping header with no power. Tomlin was making runs though and being positive. Distin as well was carrying the fight and Daniels managed to win the Cherries first corner on 42 minutes.

A few moments later and AFCB should have been celebrating a goal. Daniels and then Pugh made inroads through Stoke's defence by lifting the ball over his shoulder and past Johnson. The ball came to Murray who heeled it on to Tomlin in the box, and rather than shoot himself, he passed to Matt Ritchie who was free to strike his shot, with just Butland to beat, but the young keeper saw Erik Pieters get back in time  to make a lunging block that saved a certain goal.  

Gosling was the next Bournemouth player to have a chance at shooting but he decided cross instead and the ball was cleared. The corners that the Cherries took as well were not passing the first man when Pugh took them and so Tomlin took the next one when Ritchie had a shot deflected for another corner. From the cross though stoke broke through the middle, then to the left and Arnautovic luckily put the chance wide from the centre of the box right on half time. It was a huge let off. Meanwhile, Shaqiri had pulled up clutching his hamstring and had to go off. So Afellay came on just as the whistle went for half time.

The big screen.

The Match day ball.

Half time.

Second Half
The second half saw a more determined AFCB side go on the attack. Stoke had probably had the best of the first half in terms of possession but they would be tested in the second 45 minutes. The Cherries were still making mistakes though and Tomlin was robbed in midfield and almost set Stoke up through the middle. Charlie Adam was also still breaking up AFCB's attacks from the middle.

Again Tomlin would lose the ball this time to Wollscheid, but Arnautovic was caught offside. When AFCB did get the ball in the box and Murray challenged Butland it was the Cherries who saw the flag go up for offside rather than an infringement on the keeper.

The quality of the game seemed to be lacking as AFCB could not get a real hold of the game and Stoke probably were unsure if to twist or stick in their position. Glenn Murray then had a tame shot from the edge of the box that did not trouble Butland on 54 minutes. Bournemouth's pressure was starting to tell as the passing sequences got longer. 

Bojan was withdrawn for Mame Diouf to come on with 62 minutes gone.

AFCB were having their best part of the game and Pugh almost danced his way through three played in the box, but was blocked by Whelan. That was followed by another offside for Glenn Murray as the Cherries looked like they might be running out of ideas. Eddie Howe decided Lee Tomlin should be replaced on 71 minutes for Josh King as the southerners went in search of the equaliser.

More pleasingly for the Cherries we saw the back of Charlie Adam on 75 minutes as he was replaced by van Ginkel. The break in play did AFCB some good as Ritchie got on the ball and then Pugh had a shot blocked, but the ball broke to Gosling who thundered in a low shot right past Butland's outstretched left arm and into the bottom corner of the net 1-1.

AFCB were coming at Stoke now with real intent. Ritchie played the ball to Pugh who did a back heel for Gosling to run on to just outside the box. Gosling thought he might have scored again but Butland showed what a fine shot stopper he is by saving it on 79 minutes. That was as good as it would get though for AFCB as a move on the right wing, following a free kick against Glenn Murray, with the ever strong Glen Johnson saw his deep cross met by the on rushing Diouf who headed the ball down and the ball swept past Brouc in a flash! It was 2-1 to Stoke and all the Cherries' hard work had been undone. 

Adam Smith came on for Pugh with three minutes of normal time left. there were still chances to come. Distin hooked the ball onto Glenn Murray on the right of the box and he hit his shot well across the goal but Butland threw out his right arm and pulled off another brilliant save. The more cheeky attempt was that of Matt Ritchie from about 40 yards out on the wing. He drifted the ball in the air the full distance and Butland was caught well off his line and it was to his relief that the ball just landed a metre wide of his left upright! Whelan then managed to remind lee mason that he had a yellow card and he issued it for a foul on Smith in the 88th minute - better late than never!

With four minutes of extra time being played it was Stoke that might have extended the lead but somehow Afellay shot wide. The game was going to end 2-1 and Arnautovic was trying to make sure of it by throwing the ball back off the pitch whenever Jason Tindall tried to pass the ball to a Stoke player to take  the throw. How Lee Mason did not give Arnautovic a yellow card for time wasting is beyond me. Still, Stoke did enough on the day to get their first home win while AFCB will need to study this game carefully as they had chances to win it. 

The Cherries narrowly lose out.

Eddie has to reflect on a period now without Callum Wilson.

Summary
A bad day for AFCB, not so much for the result or the way that the team played but for the loss of Callum Wilson. The injury will have an impact on the team and I already feel it did in this game. But putting that aside Arnautovic and Pieters were able to have a big influence on the game for Stoke, while Butland made some great saves. The experience of Charlie Adam was also a problem for AFCB and the Cherries need their own ball winner back in the middle of the park as soon as possible. Still it was a strong second half performance and the Cherries have to try and build on that. What can't be hidden though is the fact that if the Cherries keep conceding two goals a game they will struggle to win many matches unless their strikers are on top form and put away all their chances.

AFCB:
Boruc, Francis, Cook, Distin, Daniels, Ritchie, Gosling, Surman, Pugh (Smith 86), Tomlin (King 71), Wilson (Murray 17).

AFCB subs:

Federici, Cargill, Smith, Bennett, MacDonald, King, Murray.

AFCB Ratings: 

Boruc 6, Francis 6, Cook 6, Distin 8, Daniels 6, Ritchie 7, Gosling 7, Surman 6, Pugh 7, Tomlin 7, Wilson (Murray 6).

Stoke City: Butland, Johnson, Cameron, Wollscheid, Pieters, Whelan, Adam (van Ginkel 75), Shaqiri (Afellay 45), Bojan (Diouf 62), Arnautovic, Walters.

Stoke subs: Given, Muniesa, Joselu, Afellay, van Ginkel, Diouf, Crouch. 

Ref Watch: Lee Mason 3/10 - not a lot of protection for AFCB players and he might have forgotten he had a yellow card.

I am sorry to hear about the loss of Mick Cunningham this morning who I am sure many of you knew very well. 

Howe is more than getting his message across

The starting line up against Sunderland was a shelling of players that had stumbled at Norwich City. While some of those players will come back into the team at some point it demonstrated that Eddie Howe can't afford to have sub-par performances if he is to bring more success to the south coast. It is great credit to those that came in that they stormed to victory in the first 10 minutes of the game against Sunderland and did not get a chance to show any nerves, but the real victory was Eddie Howe's decision to have a clear out and sharpen up players' minds as to what they need to do to get the points. The mindset was right last weekend. Eddie Howe got what he demanded from his team and that bodes really well for the rest of the season. 

Eddie enjoys the challenge of winning games and will have
got his message over to the AFCB players as they take on Stoke City today.

In comparison Dick Advocaat did not get a response from his players. They may have been on the pitch and were trying to take the game to the Cherries but they could not shackle Callum Wilson and Kaboul was the main one to suffer from that. I would not say that Sunderland's head's went down but they seemed incapable of being able to lift their game. There was no such feeling about the Cherries who seemed to have several gears to go between. We saw good game management and Eddie Howe seems to be getting his message through to his players.

While it is not great to have setbacks, AFCB are showing that they can pick themselves up and that when they have performed poorly they can up their game. More importantly, they trust Eddie Howe and that strength is what should see the team head towards safety in good time.

Today's game will see Mark Hughes in the home dugout and he will be on edge about the outcome of this match as another home game without a win will increase pressure on him. He has a full squad to pick from this week, apart from Ryan Shawcross and perhaps Mark Wilson if he fails a late fitness test. There will be no hiding if he does not get it right, so I feel that the Stoke players are the ones that have most to fear in this game, but it will need AFCB to be first to the ball in the first 15-20 minutes and to get Stoke to start doubting themselves. I read a stat that the Cherries had run the furthest so far of any team in the Premier League at 697km and if Stoke are fragile when it comes to lasting 90 minutes, as we saw against Leicester City, it will be Eddie Howe's management prowess that pundits will talking about again.

See you at the game today - safe trip everyone! UTCIAD!

Wilson leading the way

You can't get away with speaking about AFC Bournemouth and not mention Callum Wilson. Even on summing up the first home win for the Cherries in Match of the Day, Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy had to give special mention to Callum's skill and how he needs to be kept fit to keep the Cherries' challenge going strong.

Too soon for an England call up? Eddie Howe doesn't think it is.

It is hard to disagree with them. For while we have yet to see what Glenn Murray can really do for the team, Callum Wilson is undeniably a striker that virtually any team in the Premier League would like to have on their books. His skill to spin his man and gain that advantage over central defenders is going to cause problems for better players than Younes Kaboul during the course of this season, and Wilson's powerful finish past Pantilimon showed that he is now in devastating form when he has a sight of goal.

Having scored five goals already in seven games, the influence of Wilson's fire power can't be denied. It is a big part in what will be needed to keep the Cherries in this league and the 20 goal a season mark is perhaps only the first target for him now having made such a promising start. His strength and initial pace over the first 10 yards is as good as any striker in the league and if he can up his on target ratio we could see a really special season from him. UTCIAD!

Have Stoke City just been unlucky?

Stoke City are not perennial strugglers in the Premier league so it is a little surprising that they are sitting in the bottom three with three points from six games and no win under their belt yet. The Cherries have to try and keep it that way with their visit to the Britannia Stadium on Saturday. But have Mark Hughes' side been unlucky or just slightly off of their game?

Bringing in a batch of new players can sometimes work for clubs straight away but with others more time is needed and I believe this is what has happened at Stoke City. They have certainly spent over the summer on the likes of  Xherdan Shaqiri while Ibrahim Afellay was signed from Barcelona. With players like Glen Johnson and Shay Given joining the squad they also have Premier League experience, but the loan signings have perhaps taken away some of the solidity that the side had last year rather than simply increasing the competitiveness of the side. Bojan is certainly a player that looks on top of his game in their side and he will be the player that Eddie Howe is likely to pick out to be especially aware of as his movement is excellent as shown against Leicester City in their last game.

Eddie has some selection ideas to help AFCB to get a result at Stoke City.

Stoke have only conceded five goals so far, but were ahead in games against Leicester and Norwich only to come away with draws. They have made mistakes by letting teams back into games and that is a sign of a shortness of confidence. So hanging on to leads has not been their strong point, while they did well to come back from 2-0 down against Tottenham. 

Mark Hughes may feel his side has been well in games but they have not been dominating. They had just 11 attempts at goal against Leicester and four were on target. The balance is probably not quite right in their team yet and it is may be good fortune for AFCB fans that Eddie Howe may well have come across the right balance to his team from what we saw in the Cherries' last game.

Mark Hughes says he has some players to comeback so he may choose a slightly amended side for the visit of AFCB.

My predicted AFCB XI - unchanged
Boruc (GK), Francis (RD), Cook (CD), Distin (CD), Daniels (LD), Ritchie (RM), Gosling (CM), Surman (CM), Pugh (LM), Tomlin (FW), Wilson (FW) 


Stoke City Home Form
LDL

AFCB Away Form
LWL

Rival Lines: 4231 Stoke - Butland best keeper in Europe!

Rival Lines
Match Preview
Stoke City v AFCB
Blogger Interview: Four, Two,Three, One Stoke
Twitter: @4231Stoke

This week I had a talk with Four, Two, Three, One Stoke blog, ahead of the Cherries next match. While Stoke have not managed to win at home yet and Mark Hughes is still looking to get the best from his new summer signings, I was wondering if the mood of the Potters was still optimistic for the season. Sam was kind enough to give AFCB fans a detailed insight into what is going on at the Britannia.

CC: How much are you enjoying the Mark Hughes style of play after the Pulis years?

4321S: We get asked this question a lot, the style under Hughes has much more fluidity but lacks that enjoyable comfort that we used to get from knowing that we could hold onto a lead if needed. If we could blend the two you'd probably have the perfect manager. One of the most refreshing aspects under Hughes is that we can clearly see how the players can be improved to take the club further and really challenge for those European fringe places.

CC: Stoke City have made some amazing signings this summer, especially Xherdan Shaqiri, so have your expectations higher this season despite the slow start?

4321S: We've started off slowly but that's no real surprise. It's been a theme under Hughes in all of his seasons here and also at previous clubs. Expectations are currently rock bottom among many fans (we must have the most bi-polar fans in the league). A few wins and people will be putting forwards as candidates to break into the top six again though, at 4231 we like to think we're fairly level-headed and as long as we keep ourselves within that mid-table mini-league we're fairly happy.

CC: How much has the team missed Ryan Shawcross and Bojan Krkic?

4321S:  We've missed Shawcross massively, purely on the fact that the team has barely trained without him being the centrepiece of the defence for at least five years. He's an irreplaceable player for us, and far more valuable than anyone could -or would- pay for him. Bojan has also been a miss, as shown by his almost immediate impact against Leicester. While we do have a lot of adequate replacements in the attacking areas of the pitch it's very hard to replace his almost psychic ability to find space in a tight game.

CC: With Begovic moving on in the summer, have you been impressed with Jack Butland?

4321S: Good lord yes! There were concerns from a lot of fans after his previous performances that he'd struggle to command his box but he's been exceptional. It's hard to think of a goalkeeper in Europe, let alone England who's in better form than him right now.

CC: Is it important for Stoke City to sort out this new contract with Jon Walters or do you expect him to be off in January?

4321S: For me it's a very important thing but I really wouldn't be surprised if he were to move on in January or the summer. I love the bloke, but everything will depend on how much playing time he can get between now and January 1st. He started last season off in a similar position behind a few players but after scoring against Swansea he never looked back and saw off all comers to be one of our most important players. Him and Bojan are telepathic and just one of those strike partnerships that work (think Quinn & Phillips, Bergkamp & Henry, Crouch & Defoe).

CC: Why do you think haven't Stoke City had a win yet - too many mistakes or unlucky?

4321S: A mixture of both really. We were unfortunate not to win against Liverpool we were by far the better team and against Spurs and Norwich we could've run out winners with the right stroke of luck. West Brom was a catastrophe and Arsenal away is a given thumping for us, we never perform there. We've lost a solid spine in N'Zonzi and Shawcross that would've made up for a lot, but without them our midfield is practically useless defensively and we don't really have the players in the squad to fix it. It's certainly making people appreciate the defensive work that N'Zonzi did alongside Whelan.

CC: Has Stoke City got many young players that could play in the cup competitions this season and who are very near to getting in the first team?

4321S: Ollie Shenton is the major starlet in the youth teams. He's 17 and made his league debut as a sub against Manchester City last season, he's also played in a few cup fixtures last year. There are strong rumours that he might be heading out on loan to the Championship so it will be a good opportunity to gauge his ability. He was very impressive in preseason. Other than that we recruited heavily for our U21's with Moha from Barca B, Sergi Molina - the Real Madrid C team captain and two Blackpool youngsters (Telford & Waddington) both of who impressed in the first team there. The real area of talent though is our U18's group, there are a number of very good players there.

CC: What can we look forward to seeing on our visit to the Britannia stadium?

4321S: The incinerator? It's not the greatest area for a stadium, there's very little surrounding it. Sorry. There's a couple of nice pubs nearby and all are pretty friendly for away fans.

CC: What do you make of AFC Bournemouth and their rise up the leagues?

4321S: We've enjoyed it and to join the media love-in we have loved watching Eddie Howe's progress. The recent run of 'surprise' teams to get promoted is far more fun to watch than a stale boring repeat of the same two sets of teams each year when relegated teams get straight back up. I guess in a way we kind of started that trend. It's also good to see a club like Bournemouth fight back to success from the financial ruins left by Redknapp (once again). That said, I don't like Harry Arter, had a disagreement with him on twitter over Scott Parker and he doesn't seem the brightest.

CC: What is your score prediction for the match?

4321S: I've got to go with a home win. Feeling a 2-1, a close game. We'll probably start fast and take a two goal lead again, we'll concede around the 70 minute mark and it'll be a nervy finish.

CC: Superb Sam! I really enjoyed that - especially the Harry Arter comment! He is very close to his brother-in-law so I am not surprised if he defended him, but we love Harry at AFCB as he always gives 100%. Sadly he had a bit of a setback this week but we hope to see him play again soon as he will add something to the Premier League. As an England fan I am keen to know that you rate Jack Butland so highly. I just hope that he is kept extremely busy on Saturday against a team that sure likes to attack. I can understand that you you predict a home win - good to see Stoke fans in good cheer. I am hoping that Peter Crouch does get a game, perhaps from the subs bench and am just glad none of our players have ponytails that he can pull on! 

AFCB fans make sure you wrap up warm when visiting the Britannia - I've heard it can get chilly up there. You can always warm up on local knowledge though about Stoke City FC and you'll find that at Four, Two,Three, One Stoke  

A great clean sheet for AFCB can we have another?

While I might have been wondering if AFCB were going to have to wait a good while to get their first Premier League clean sheet, it was a delight to see that they managed it in a home game. The Vitality Stadium has only seen two goals go in against the team and it is of course important that the goals that other teams get are not simply down to standard mistakes. Pleasingly the Cherries came away with that clean sheet against Sunderland but it was not all certain that they would do that given the chances Sunderland had.

Artur Boruc on goal minding duties.

Yes, Distin was immense at the back and the back line played with confidence but there were moments when they rode their luck a little. Jordi Gomez was close to catching out Artur Boruc with his early free kick and the quick thinking Premier League players are going to be a constant threat all season. Artur had a good game though and certainly rescued the team against Defoe's one on one. But where was the marking Jermain's headed attempt that went wide but could easily have been directed on goal in that first half? Yes, it was given offside but there was a sharp intake of breath before the assistant referee put his flag up. There is still some communication issues between the keepers and central defenders that could be worked on. That should come with game time though, after all Tommy Elphick is the usual organiser of the back four and Sylvain will be working hard to get the understanding with Steve Cook right.

The big bonus for Eddie Howe was to see that Sunderland only managed two shots on target so Boruc's work was kept to a minimum for once. Keeping the game tight and flourishing at the other end is the recipe for success and as long as that continues at Dean Court the Cherries will be a difficult team to beat.

Distin is just a tower of strength

It was certain that at some point that Sylvain Distin would make a Premier League start in an AFC Bournemouth shirt. That it happened as early as the sixth game is no shame on Tommy Elphick and Steve Cook who have made a good start to their top flight careers, but the injury to Elphick may funnily have come at a good time. Tommy can now look back at his game and assess a few areas where he can do better, while Steve Cook gets the chance to work with a very experienced central defender on match day.

Sylvain's Distin's Premier League debut in
an AFCB shirt could not have gone much better.

Steve Cook played on the right side of Sylvain against Sunderland which was perhaps a surprise, but it probably kept Cook more on his toes than usual. Having Sylvain next to him though must have been inspirational as the big man just won header after header and put in some hefty challenges to boss the back line and give Borini and Defoe little room or encouragement. AFCB fans have not seen much of Distin apart from in the pre-season games and Capital One Cup, but on this latest performance it is hard to see him not carrying on for some time in the team as long as he does not need a rest.

While Sylvain did make one misjudgement that let in Defoe for a good shooting opportunity against Boruc that was the only slip he made all game. For most of the time he was in charge at the back clearing balls over the East stand or powering headers some 20 yards up the pitch for the midfielders to latch on to. It was impressive and he seemed to have so much more time to make his clearances and passes than the rushed passes that we sometimes see as defenders come under pressure.

I think it was important that Distin played in either the Sunderland or Preston match as his experience would be vital for the Stoke away game this week. Now that Distin has dipped his toe back in the frenetic atmosphere of the Premier League, he should be well up for keeping a clean sheet at the Britannia.

if you have not already found out why Tokelo Rantie missed the midweek game at Preston have a look at the official AFCB website - Dublin is a long way from Preston.