AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe described the last minute defeat to Chelsea in the League Cup quarter-final as heart-breaking.
The Cherries had travelled to Stamford Bridge for their last 8 round of the newly named Carabao Cup and made numerous changes to the starting XI following the disappointing defeat to Liverpool last weekend.
In goal was Artur Boruc, replacing Asmir Begovic.
Steve Cook and Simon Francis were joined by 20 year old youngster Jack Simpson for only his second appearance.
Adam Smith and Ryan Fraser started on the wings with Andrew Surman, Harry Arter and Dan Gosling in central midfield.
Up front it was Jermain Defoe and Lys Mousset.
The first 20 minutes were a period to forget for the Cherries, on 13 minutes Willian opened the scoring and on 17 minutes Jermain Defoe limped off with potential ankle ligament damage.
With a place in the semi-finals at stake, AFC Bournemouth dominated large periods of the game and their deserved equaliser came from an excellent strike by Dan Gosling in the 90th minute.
But the heartbreak was to come as virtually straight from the kick off, with the game in stoppage time Morata scored Chelsea’s winner.
Howe told afcb.co.uk…
‘It feels heart-breaking to be honest and the players gave everything. We didn`t get the best start and they scored a good goal from their perspective.
‘In the second half, we had waves of attack and we scored, but the last part of the game is bitterly disappointing. I think we`re experienced enough to know, but it`s just one of those things.
‘The most positive thing is that our players continued to be dominate the ball.
Your Say…
kirsikka wrote…
Positives and negatives
Positives:
Fraser looks bang in touch again and caused them no end of problems.
Ibe recovered from a shaky start to look very dangerous in the second half
Harry was back doing what he does best. Erm, harry. And then harry some more.
Pressing as a team caused them plenty of issues. Hopefully the players will see that and do the same to Man City.
A goal from Gosling. We all wanted more scoring from the midfield.
Negatives:
First half was pretty insipid, especially after their goal.
Switching off straight after scoring. Just… oh dear. I remember being lectured about that when I was 10 years old.
Defoe injury. Let’s hope it is nothing serious.
Another defeat, even if the performance was good.
Mousset… is that now 18 appearances without a goal? – Join the conversation here.
It’s easy to join AFCB Vital
Sign up and have your say on the articles, polls and forums, just click the link to register.
