AFC Bournemouth travelled to Wales to take on Swansea on Tuesday night, whilst promotion rivals Nottingham Forest travelled to London to take on league leaders Fulham.
It felt like a potential pivotal evening in the Championship promotion chase. A victory for AFC Bournemouth whilst a defeat to Nottingham Forest would swing the promotion odds one way, whilst a defeat for the Cherries and a win for Nottingham Forest would swing the pendulum in the other direction.
AFC Bournemouth head coach Scott Parker named Jamal Lowe in the side ahead of Philip Billing, with the big Dane dropping to the bench. Billing was accompanied by Kieffer Moore, returning to the squad for the first time in weeks following his foot injury.
After the match, Parker told Sky Sportsโฆ
โImmense spirit, desire, passion โ all the words you commonly hear coaches say
they want in their team. We showed that in abundance. We started very slowly against a very good side and we had to go foot to the floor and be brave.
โAt 3-0 you probably think take your medicine and regroup, but I am very proud of the team. To come back from 3-0 down was massive for us. Something you need from a team comes within, and my team have shown that consistently this year.โ
"๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฃ, ๐ฃ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐จ๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐."
The gaffer on yesterday's draw ๐ฃ
โ AFC Bournemouth ๐ (@afcbournemouth) April 27, 2022
Back from injury and back in the goals!
Kieffer Moore scored either side of Dom Solanke's penalty to give Bournemouth a potentially priceless point
Listen to Moore with @kristemple last night ๐๐ #afcb pic.twitter.com/DOkKNeHo2b
โ BBC Radio Solent Sport (@solentsport) April 27, 2022
Written by Allen
In Parkerโs interview after Fulham, he said he wants players to fight until the very end. He must be over the moon. At half time he was in the huddle.
At the time of the substitutions, I was thinking it was desperation and comparing Robbie Brady to Shane Long, how nice it is to be proved wrong. Brady deserves massive credit, he was so composed, he whipped in some beautiful crosses.
Billing gets a lot of stick, but he was incredible throughout the second half, even before they went 3-0 up he was doing everything right and he made an incredible (in my opinion, goals saving) defensive recovery run. He really made the team click.
Kieffer Moore has that impact of Kenwyne Jones, he is a nightmare for the opposition. He is a beast for Wales and I always hated us playing against him. A proper handful who causes panic and throws the opposition game plan out the window for those who have to deal with him. A great header and brilliant movement for his first.
The player who had his quietest game for us is my player of the season, Mark Travers, not his fault, Swansea were lucky to be able to capitalize on all of their chances and he couldnโt have done much to stop them.
Brilliant from Jefferson Lerma running into the away stand and grabbing the ball from their fans, hilarious.
Parker got his tactics and substitutions perfect!
The team showed heart, passion, fight, quality, everything!
Your sayโฆ
What a game to be at, great atmosphere, fans were nervous but reacted positively whenever we were given something to cheer. So nearly got a winner a couple of times, every nearly sent stress and heart rate into the stratosphere. So pleased for everyone involved, nights like these are so worth being there.
Football never ceases to amaze me, what a rollercoaster of emotions this evening.
If those 2 results were offered at 7 this evening I would have considered it a disastrous night, but in the circumstances that could be a big point. Effectively comes down to beating Forest now, and then just need 1 point from the remaining 2. Tuesday is going to be so tense. โ Join the conversation, click here.
A big thank you to all the #afcb fans who made the trip tonight โค๏ธ pic.twitter.com/fNWECqdT1T
โ AFC Bournemouth ๐ (@afcbournemouth) April 26, 2022
๐ Here's how the table looks tonightโฆ#EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/A9clhOEhfx
โ Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) April 26, 2022