AFC Bournemouth hosted Manchester United in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Saturday night. The Cherries were hoping to see two small bits of history broken in front of the Dean Court faithful, one happened, whilst the other very nearly did.
The one which faltered was seeing AFC Bournemouth do the league double over Manchester United for the first time, in the end, despite having the chances to do so and with a helping hand from the officials the away side got to scamper off home with an underserved point.
The one that did come to pass was Dominic Solanke breaking the record for the most goals in a single season in the top flight of English football. Solanke bagged his 17th goal of the campaign to open the scoring, breaking the previous tally set by Joshua King during the 2016/17 season.
After the game, AFC Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told Sky Sports…
“We cannot be happy with the point, We were the team that deserved three points.
“We missed chances, especially in the first half. But the reason we didn’t win is because we missed the chances and all the refereeing decisions went against us.”
Talking about referee Tony Harrington’s performance he said…
“In the first half, Kobbie Mainoo dives and it is not a yellow card, In the second half, there is contact on Christie and it is a yellow card for diving. What’s the reason?
“We need the same respect as other teams. All the teams are playing for important things and it’s cost us a lot of hard work.”
Discussing the decision by VAR Jarred Gillett to overall referee Harrington’s decision to award a stoppage-time penalty to the Cherries he added…
“The first frame, he is maybe one centimetre outside the box but he continues stopping the player one or two metres inside. It’s obvious.”
Man of the match against Manchester UnitedSolanke
Kluivert
Christie
Senesi
Kerkez
O. Dango
Cook
Zabarnyi
Someone else
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Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has a LOT to say about the calls or lack of calls against Man Utd 😳 pic.twitter.com/up1D01MzP0
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 13, 2024
AFCB_Liam
Robbed by the referee and nothing more to add on that front. Despite that, we were still very wasteful and should have scored 4 or 5.
United are a truly awful side. They have enough individual talent to scrape them into the top 3rd of the table having spent literally billions over the last 10 years, but as a side they are atrocious. No organisation, desire, or discernable style of play. I thought they were just as bad as when we played them away, just luckier this time. Maguire has to be the most awkward-looking centre back in the league on the ball, it’s the human form of watching a lorry attempt a 3-point turn.
Injuries have probably been our downfall for any late Europe charge. Without Semenyo, Tav or Sini we look quite slow and lose our intensity. I’m not sure if Dango will reach their level of consistency and threat. Faivre had a decent cameo and be good to see him given some more time to prove himself. Still hard to judge Unal properly as he only gets 20 minutes here and there and usually with our most threatening wingers having come off.
"You have a split seconds to think" 🤔
The SNF panel discuss the penalty given against Bournemouth 👇 pic.twitter.com/FUSciyj4Im
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 13, 2024
On the Bournemouth penalty call at the end, according to The FA's Laws of the Game (Law 12.3)
"If a defender starts holding an attacker outside the penalty area and continues holding inside the penalty area, the referee must award a penalty kick."#afcb
— Mark McAdam (@markmcadamtv) April 13, 2024
billythekid
Well, that was entertaining and why we love watching Andoni Iraola’s style of football.
AFCB should have had all three points and done the double over United on our display today, especially in the first half.
Good to see Senesi back in the team again today and he provided both assists for our goals.
The first from Solanke who at last has broken Josh King’s record for goals in a Premier League season.
The second from Kluivert.
The stats were very much in our favour with AFCB having 20 shots, 5 on target against United’s 8 shots, 2 on target.
The Dean Court crowd were great as well and got right behind our team.
11,229 at Dean Court today, our largest crowd of the season, beating the Liverpool game by 1.
The most goals for an @afcbournemouth player in a Premier League season ⚽️
Take a bow, @DomSolanke 👏 pic.twitter.com/vuHuBbUujT
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 13, 2024
Delighted to break the club record for the most goals in a prem season! Glory to God🙏🏾❤️ pic.twitter.com/L2IsJEWMd2
— Dom Solanke (@DomSolanke) April 13, 2024
Dom on a special achievement 🥰🙌 pic.twitter.com/b8RI3PFyX5
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) April 13, 2024
"I would love to be there" 🙏
Dominic Solanke is dreaming of a spot in the England Euro 2024 squad 🏴 pic.twitter.com/cNYOLthNon
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 13, 2024
Doofus
Overall I came away from DC content rather than happy. Our team has all the makings of greatness that hopefully will be even more fulfilled next season.
It was a complete moral victory. AI will no doubt develop and build on what has been an amazing first chapter.
Consider the option of waking up this morning with the horrifying realisation that you are a Manure fan, compared with the sheer joy of being a Cherries supporter.
Christie, Kluivert, Zab and Senesi were my standouts from my first visit to the North Stand in an age having been corporately evicted from the Ted Mac.
Oh, and my first experience of safe standing was a massive thumbs up. Loved it. Raucous. Passionate. Old school (ish). Superb view. – To join the conversation, click here.
