AFC Bournemouth returned to Dean Court on Saturday following back-to-back away victories over Bristol City and Stoke City.
Cherries head coach Scott Parker stuck with the same XI which had picked up the three points away at Stoke City, which saw Gavin Kilkenny maintain his place in the heart of the midfield alongside Jefferson Lerma and Philip Billing, with Ryan Christie and Jaidon Anthony operating in the wide positions supporting Dominic Solanke in attack.
With Adam Smith still sidelined, the back four of Jack Stacey, Gary Cahill, Lloyd Kelly and Jordan Zemura continued in front of Ryan Travers.
A brace from Solanke and a goal for Kelly extended the Cherries lead at the top of the second tier of English football to six points, with Fulham playing on Sunday only able to narrow the lead to five points if they were to win.
A good day at the office ๐
We'll leave you with these post-match scenes from today's win โค๏ธ pic.twitter.com/ewo8TYnTnY
โ AFC Bournemouth ๐ (@afcbournemouth) October 23, 2021
After the match, Parker told Sky Sportsโฆ
โI thought we were perfect in the first half. We executed the game plan in terms of what we wanted to be today against a side who are defensively very good. The first half ranks up there [as the best performance of the season] in terms of our all-round game. With the ball we understood the game and what we needed to do, and put the ball in the areas we needed to do. We worked this week on having a lot of the ball but we want to score goals and win games.
โI was very pleased how we risked the ball and then defensively I was very pleased with how we locked down any counter-threat. The first goal epitomised the risk of running off the back three and the good moments of the front three and the same happened with the second goal. We were everything I wanted us to be. With the ball we locked down any threat they imposed on us and suffocated them. The first half felt like a constant barrage from us, because of our positioning and how well we did in those moments.โ
๐บ Breaking records
๐บ Today's performance
๐บ The journey aheadScott Parker gives his assessment on today's win over Huddersfield Town. #afcb ๐
โ AFC Bournemouth ๐ (@afcbournemouth) October 23, 2021
๐จ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐ญ๐ฐ ๐
Todayโs win means weโve equalled our best ever start to a season ๐๐ pic.twitter.com/Tr37PtEZtB
โ AFC Bournemouth ๐ (@afcbournemouth) October 23, 2021
https://twitter.com/lloydkelly4/status/1451967326216245254?s=20
Written by thegazzyb
We are awesome. Just need to keep this going. What a run we are on!
Now best Goal Difference in the league too, at least until Fulham play.
Loving this team. Well done all. It feels as though we are well on our way to starting a new post-Eddie Howe era of success which to be honest I thought Iโd never see. Well done to the whole club for riding out the enormous upheaval caused by our relegation and putting us back on the road to success. We must be doing a lot right behind the scenes, so credit where itโs due.
"We need to keep pushing and not let this slip"
It was another good performance from @gavkilkenny10 as Bournemouth went a record 14th game unbeaten
They currently lead the Championship by six points
Listen to his reaction, he's been speaking to @kristemple #afcb ๐๐ pic.twitter.com/9ORxjiK2To
โ BBC Radio Solent Sport (@solentsport) October 23, 2021
Thats it, thats the one ๐ธ
Great afternoons work with another big performance all round. Well done @DomSolanke & @lloydkelly4 with the goals๐
We keep building @afcbournemouth ๐๐ช #afcb pic.twitter.com/F1XwmCeqJq
โ Gary Cahill (@GaryJCahill) October 23, 2021
Your sayโฆ
That was a real professional performance, especially in the first half against a side who were 6th in the table and unbeaten in the last four games and not conceded in last three.
Ryan Christie had a very good game, added another assist to the four he already had.
Dominic Solanke got another brace against them like he did last season again in the first 21 minutes, good to see him playing with such confidence.
Looking at the table tonight it is really good reading. โ Join the conversation, click here.
Only goal difference separates 5th to 11th ๐#EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/sK3541S6iB
โ Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) October 23, 2021