AFC Bournemouth returned to Dean Court on Tuesday night to host Crystal Palace, the Cherries have been in fine form in recent weeks and were looking to secure their fourth win in five Premier League games.
Crystal Palace, who included former AFC Bournemouth midfielder Jefferson Lerma were hoping to take only their second win in eight Premier League games. They would however return to London empty-handed after AFC Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola turned the game with the introduction of both Antoine Semenyo and Justin Kluivert.
The three points for the Cherries lifts them to 41 points after 30 games, 11th in the top tier of English football, just 4 points adrift of West Ham United in seventh place (with a game in hand) and 19 points clear of the relegation battle.
Iraola told Sky Sports after the game…
“Both teams played in a slower rhythm than we wanted. It was difficult to press them. They keep the ball well. We were not comfortable in the game, but we dealt well with the challenges.
“It wasn’t the game we wanted to play but we had the most clear chances. Luckily for us, we scored at the end.
“Antoine [Semenyo] wasn’t feeling 100 per cent before the game, but we needed him, he gave the energy that made the difference.
“We are growing as a team. We have to balance these kinds of games, where it’s not clear you’re going to win. You suffer, but you take three points, that’s important. We’re in a good position.”
Man of the match against Crystal PalaceSemenyo
Philip
Neto
Zabarnyi
Cook
Kluivert
Kerkez
Kelly
Smith
Christie
Solanke
Someone else
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NWCherries98
Two wins in under 72 hours, against two very difficult and irritating teams. Keeping the faith has never been this fun or easy.
We should absolutely be looking up the table, rather than down. I fear no team in this league anymore. We played City off the park. Weโre 2 wins off of our best-ever season as a club. Weโre better than Newcastle, West Ham, Brighton, United, and Wolves. Hopefully, the table after 38 games proves it.
The boss' assessment of another three points ๐ pic.twitter.com/O3UBFYx1vD
— AFC Bournemouth ๐ (@afcbournemouth) April 2, 2024
hba1
That was different the 2 teams contrived to cancel each other out. I liked our capacity to change formations a working plan b. Hard work won the day. My man of the match was Lewis Cook for his versatility.
Over the past 21 Premier League matches, Bournemouth are FIFTH ๐คฏ
What a job Iraola has done! ๐
๐ฒ https://t.co/NI1sjtHpng#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/7tugwyIqwM
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) April 2, 2024
Put it in the mixer
I was thinking about our defence towards the end of game. You can easily see 3 of the 4 playing for a top 6 team at some point – Zabs, Kelly and Kerkez. Kelly was a Rolls Royce tonight.
You can also see Dom, Semenyo, Scott (if he gets his mojo back), all moving on to bigger things too. So when you look at a large portion of our team it’s no wonder we are doing so well.
Can we sell well and recruit well, ala Brighton to keep growing? Or will we keep hold of them and continue our rise? Time will tell.
3๏ธโฃ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ! ๐๐๐พ pic.twitter.com/qmLcdFe66r
— Dango Ouattara (@DangoOuattara) April 3, 2024
Rob151060
Finding different ways to win games is great, and Semenyo made the difference tonight. I Thought Zabs was immense though, and Christie showed why we missed him so much on Saturday. Luckily Cap’n Neto didn’t have much to do thanks to our backline which included Cook most of the game. Kelly so calm and assured too- going to miss him. So another deserved and very welcome 3 points. Something tells me we’re going to play a lot more attractive football v. Man Ure- would love to beat them. As for Luton hoping for a win but must admit it’s with a heavy heart. Onwards and upwards. – To join the conversation, click here.
