Watkins scores late equaliser as Bournemouth fail to win three in a row: Bournemouth 2-2 Aston Villa

AFCBFootballSport
No ratings yet. Log in to rate.

A late Ollie Watkins goal rescued a point for Aston Villa as thye drew 2-2 with Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon.

Bournemouth thought they had won it after goals from Solanke and Semenyo gave Iraola's side the lead, but the late header denied the Cherries their third win in a row.

There was controversy throughout the first half too as Antoine Semenyo could have seen red for a second yellow card. 

Iraola made just the one change from the team that beat Sheffield United last week with Milos Kerkez replacing Lloyd Kelly.

The most notable change in Unai Emery’s side was the reintroduction of Ollie Watkins after fears that he was injured. Villa made four changes, with Matty Cash starting on the bench for the away side.

Bournemouth started the brighter of the two sides, with Marcus Tavrnier cutting inside from the right and firing wide from just outside the box inside the first minute.

Aston Villa came forward a couple of minutes later, but Zaniolo’s shot was well over the bar.

Neto was forced into a good save five minutes in when Douglas Luiz flicked the ball over Lewis Cook and drilled the ball towards the bottom corner, but the goalkeeper met it and parried for a corner.

The Cherries opened the scoring eleven minutes in when Ryan Christie won the ball high up the pitch after a poor Diego Carlos pass and played the ball through to Antoine Semenyo, who fired the ball into the bottom corner to give Bournemouth the lead.

The Christie-Semenyo linkup nearly doubled the lead five minutes later when the Scotsman played a lovely switch over to the forward who was on the left-hand side of the box, he struck his shot well but Emiliano Martinez made a great save to keep the score at 1-0.

That save proved vital as in the 22nd minute when Leon Bailey cut inside from the right past Milos Kerkez and released a fierce shot to level the score at the Vitality Stadium.

Semenyo could’ve seen red straight after the goal after pulling back an Aston Villa player, the away fans thought he should’ve seen an early bath but referee Thomas Bramall disagreed.

And the Villains thought that they had turned it round completely a minute later when a free kick was delivered, Digne headed on and the centre-back swept the ball past Neto and into the back of the net, but after a lengthy VAR check Digne was judged to be offside.

Martinez made another good save to deny Semenyo when the winger burst down the left hand side and fired a shot at goal. Tavernier had a chance from the resulting corner but it came to nothing.

And it was the Argentinian that denied Bournemouth once again when Christie cut inside from the right and into the box, and played a De Bruyne-esque pass to Solanke inside the six-yard box. The Englishman got his foot to it but Martinez pulled out a phenomenal save to keep the scores level.

The rest of the half was relatively dull, with the only good chance coming as Christie played through Kluivert, but a brilliant last-ditch tackle from Ezri Konsa stopped the Dutchman from getting his shot off.

Semenyo could have seen red again after committing a foul on the edge of the box. The Bournemouth fans were furious but the foul didn’t cost Bournemouth as the free-kick hit Solanke square in the face.

Iraola didn’t take Semenyo off at the break, however Aston Villa made a change with Zaniolo being replaced, probably as a precaution after his first half yellow card. Jacob Ramsey came on for the visitors.

The Cherries opened the second half with a goal, Kerkez was  persistent down the left wing and played the ball into Dominic Solanke, the striker turned past the defender on the penalty spot and smashed the ball into the bottom corner and past an outstretched Martinez to regain Bornemouth’s lead.

Solanke should have doubled Bournemouth’s lead in the 64th minute when Tavernier burst down the right wing and played the ball into the six-yard box for the striker, but another outstanding Emi Martinez save kept him at bay.

Villa made their second change with captain John McGinn making way for Jhon Duran.

Bournemouth made their first changes with 20 minutes to go with Sinisterra and Philip replacing Kluivert and Semenyo, with the goal scorer eventually escaping a second yellow card.

Aston VIlla struck the post a minute later when Duran was fed the ball with his back turned to goal , the substitute turned and hit a shot off Smith which wrongfooted Neto but fortunately for the Cherries hit the post and bounced out.

Villa made their final changes with Diaby, Moreno and Cash replacing  Bailey, Konsa and Digne.

Martinez made another phenomenal save from Sinisterra when the Colombian was played through on goal by Solanke, the Colombian tried to find the bottom corner but could've squared it to Tavernier, and his shot was tipped wide by a fully outstretched Martinez. The offside flag was raised though.

Kerkez was taken off for Mepham and received a yellow card afterwards for his confrontation with Duran

Bournemouth thought they had won it but in the 90th miute a cross was swung into Watkins, and the England international connected brilliantly with the header, the ball flew past Neto and into the back of the net to rescue a point.

Iraola made an injury time sub as Tavernier made way for Ouattara.

The result means that Bournemouth end the day in 16th, six points clear from the relegation zone. They play Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night.

Comments