AFC Bournemouth hosted Championship side Swansea City in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Thursday night.
It was the second time the two sides have met this season, having previously been drawn together in the Football League Cup earlier in the season.
The Cherries fielded a strong side in front of the Dean Court faithful, keen to rediscover some form after the poor end of the match on Sunday against Premier League leaders Liverpool. The carrot of getting the sides name in the hat for the fifth-round draw was also obvious.
Mark Travers replaced Neto in goal, whilst James Hill swapped from the left-back role to the right-back role in the absence of Max Aarons who limped off injured on Sunday.
With neither Lloyd Kelly or Milos Kerkez fully fit, they shared the left-back role-playing 45 minutes each. With Marcos Senesi returning from suspension he re-joined Zabarnyi at the heart of the defence.
In midfield, it was the first-choice pairing of Ryan Christie and Lewis Cook, with Alex Scott, Luis Sinisterra and David Brooks in the attacking positions supporting Dominic Solanke.
There was no room for Philip Billing in the squad, whilst Marcus Tavernier, Kieffer Moore, Gavin Kilkenny and Dominic Sadi all made appearances off the bench.
AFC Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told the Daily Echo after the game…
“…It is something the players deserved, but also in the second half we respected the game, we respected the opposition and we went to keep the same intensity level.
“It is true we haven’t been so clinical, we have missed some chances, but we have continued and finished the game quite well…”
“…We talked a lot before the game about how we needed to improve our starts a little bit in this competition,” said Iraola.
“Also we were coming from a difficult second half against Liverpool and we wanted to start strong, to win the game and do it in the way we’ve done it.
“Now it looks easy, but it is never easy and I think it is the game we needed in this moment.”
Man of the match against Swansea - FA Cup
Brooks
Sinisterra
Scott
Cook
Solanke
Kelly
Hill
Christie
Travers
Zabarnyi
Senesi
billythekid
James Hill looked good at right back, especially first half when he was over on our side of the pitch.
Stroll in the park for our lads.
Sometimes when you get a good lead at half-time it doesn’t continue in the second half.
Our two centre halves back together again played well and it was a good team performance.
Glad I bought my ticket, lots of new faces in the MS tonight.
Small contingent from Swansea in the 10,166 crowd.
David Brooks.
That's it, that's the tweet 🌟@afcbournemouth #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/JZxzXqHkFf
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) January 25, 2024
Topfarrier
Nice confidence boost for Brooks just to remind him what a wonderful footballer he can be.
Lewis Cook was man of the month for me though…… I don’t know what Iraola has done to him… but he looks classy in any position he plays him…..midfield…centre back….right back it doesn’t seem to matter.
next round🤌 @afcbournemouth pic.twitter.com/mek9yVku1p
— Alex Scott (@AlexScott_7) January 25, 2024
northstandmark
Swansea played the most idealistic and naive first 45 I’ve seen since Sean O’Driscoll. Second half they went into damage limitation and we dropped into pre-season friendly mode.
Fascinating game. Job done.
Onto the next round 🔥🏆
Up the cherries 🍒 pic.twitter.com/u6ofCr3O07— Marcos Senesi (@senesimarcos) January 25, 2024
Rob151060
Either him or Ryan Christie for me. Mind you, those two assists from Brooks were special and his goal was well taken (at least in comparison to his effort on Sunday) so it’s not one of those games where I was left scratching my head over the MOTM choice. – To join the conversation, click here.
