AFC Bournemouth head coach Scott Parker took his undefeated Cherries to Wales on Saturday to face a tough trip to Cardiff City.
Due to the expected physical contest against a Mick McCarthy side, Parker opted to drop David Brooks out of the starting line-up, shifting Ryan Christie to the right-wing and bring in Ben Pearson to join Jefferson Lerma and Philip Billing in the midfield three, with the in-form Jaidon Anthony continuing down the left.
The back four of Adam Smith, Gary Cahill, Lloyd Kelly and Jordan Zemura continued in front of goalkeeper Ryan Travers.
Up front Dominic Solanke continued his fine work in the lone striker role.
Parker told Sky Sports…
“I am delighted for Phil. We have been working hard on his game and there are unseen aspects that are now working very well. He has matured. In the past, I saw a player who could float in and out of games and maybe could go missing at times.
“Now, I think he is superb. We know what you get with him technically, but he also now ticks all the boxes when it comes to his defensive work and his understanding of the team dynamics. This was a massive result and it brought to an end a huge week for us with three wins. I thought we were superb today and looked every bit a top side. We were up against a big, physical side who deliver long throws and who can cause you massive problems. I asked my players to be brave and they were.”
Man of the match against Cardiff
Cahill
Billing
Lerma
Smith
"π π»πΆπ»π²-π½πΌπΆπ»π ππ²π²πΈ πΆπ π―πΆπ΄."
The gaffer's take on today's win πͺ
— AFC Bournemouth π (@afcbournemouth) September 18, 2021
9 point week! Refresh and get ready to go again!!! #UTC π
— Gary O'Neil (@Gazoneil) September 18, 2021
Written by adam0102
Fantastic steak roll and good lager at a βNeighbourhoodβ place en route from the station
Excellent turnout from the south coast, numerous and noisy
Couldnβt believe how poor the Cardiff support was
First half, needed a pace injection and a better final ball, but Cahill and Pearson outstanding
Second half, the PhilBill show up front, could have had four. Some great play from him, JZ, JA and Dom as we regularly tore them to shreds but our finishing was poor apart from the sublime finish by Phil
The defence was superb all day, Trav only had two saves to make but both were as the offside flag went up
My MoM Cahill, but Pearlo and Jeff ran him close
Honourable mention particularly for Jeff for his play after heβd been booked.
Ref let play flow well and wasnβt falling for theatrics
Matt Stevenson added…
Your say…
OOCC TDA wrote…
Just my annual visit to say that was a well deserved win for you yesterday. The Bluebirds are not going to do much this season, given the loss of a lot of experience and quality over the summer. The financial disaster that will surely emerge from the economic effects of Covid and the end of parachute payments will be seen to be largely responsible for that.
Mick McCarthy out of necessity is bringing youngsters through, which is a novel experience in itself, but it will take time for anything positive to come from that.
In the meantime, we will continue to bully teams where we can and most supporters will be content with a mid-table position come the end of the season.
Good luck to the Cherries! It’s anyone’s league this season. – Join the conversation, click here.
You more than played your part β€οΈ@BillingPhilip was full of praise for the #afcb fans who made the trip to Cardiff.
— AFC Bournemouth π (@afcbournemouth) September 18, 2021
Proud of the boys this week with them showing a lot of character and ability to gain 3 vital wins @afcbournemouth #winningmentality #afcb ππ pic.twitter.com/th8cQT8m3b
— Gary Cahill (@GaryJCahill) September 18, 2021
https://twitter.com/lloydkelly4/status/1439289412219768834?s=20
northstandmark added…
It was a knife-edge but in the end you’d say well managed.
We had our creative period and got the 1 when maybe it should have been 2 or 3, and then dropped off to invite Cardiff on. It gave us chances on the break but it tested our resolve at the back when maybe we could have carried more momentum forward and not needed to head and kick away so much.
On another day it goes 1-1 or on another day we’re more clinical with those late break-aways. As it was we got the job done.
Great support from the away end, if I may say! – Join the conversation, click here.
A packed out away end…
That one was for π¬π’π¨ β€οΈ pic.twitter.com/gw6xlvf1Fk
— AFC Bournemouth π (@afcbournemouth) September 18, 2021
