Bournemouth vs Preston North End. Sky Bet Championship.
Vitality Stadium.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Bournemouth and Preston at the Vitality Stadium as North End take three-goal lead before holding off Cherries fightback to secure victory.
Tuesday 1 December 2020 23:50, UK
Scott Sinclair scored a stunning 40-yard lob as Preston ended Bournemouth's unbeaten home record with a deserved 3-2 win at the Vitality Stadium.
Tom Barkhuizen gave Alex Neil's men the lead early in the first half before Sinclair's moment of magic at the start of the second doubled their advantage.
Patrick Bauer's 68th-minute goal rendered Junior Stanislas's brilliant free-kick and Sam Surridge's first Bournemouth league goal no more than consolation efforts for the hosts.
The Cherries knew a point would have taken them top of the Sky Bet Championship for at least 24 hours and they had the first meaningful attempt on goal in the sixth minute when Colombian midfielder Jefferson Lerma fired over the crossbar from 25 yards.
Bournemouth had a loud penalty appeal turned down when Adam Smith went down in the 18-yard box after tussling with Preston captain Alan Browne.
Preston opened the scoring in the 16th minute after catching the Bournemouth defence napping from a quick counter-attack.
Daniel Johnson was given far too much space down the left wing to drill in a low cross for Barkhuizen to rifle home from four yards.
Wales winger David Brooks went in search of an immediate reply but could only put his long-range shot into the arms of Preston goalkeeper Declan Rudd after cutting in from the right.
Home goalkeeper Asmir Begovic denied Preston a second in the 21st minute, making an acrobatic save to turn Sean Maguire's stinging 20-yard drive behind for a corner.
Bournemouth handed a full debut to Atletico Madrid loanee Rodrigo Riquelme and the Spaniard let fly from distance in the 28th minute but could not keep his shot down.
The Cherries had a great chance to equalise when Riquelme's whipped free-kick was headed wide at the far post by Chris Mepham.
Centre-back Mepham saw another header from a Brooks free-kick deflected behind by Ben Davies' back in the last minute of the first half.
Preston doubled their lead just four minutes into the second half courtesy of Sinclair's screamer.
Maguire headed an attempted Bournemouth clearance back into the Cherries' half and Sinclair picked out the top corner with a brilliant lofted shot after spotting Begovic off his line.
Bauer slid in to make it 3-0 from Johnson's centre as his shot cannoned past Begovic off the inside of a post.
Stanislas' curling 25-yard free-kick gave Bournemouth hope of staging a dramatic late comeback.
Surridge's header from fellow substitute Jaidon Anthony's cross with four minutes to play gave the Dorset side even greater belief, but Preston held on to continue their excellent away form.
It was Bournemouth's first home defeat in the Championship since losing to a Norwich side managed by Preston boss Neil in January 2015.
Preston's Alex Neil: "We are all gutted for Pat [Bauer]. It's going to finish his season, which is devastating for him and for us. Patrick's injury is devastating, and that is the main emotion at the moment for us, but in terms of the game it was really pleasing of course. We deservedly won the game tonight.
"Scott has got quality. It was a fantastic strike, when he hit it I was thinking he should have passed it but when it went in it was great. He was magnificent tonight, I'm really pleased for him because he works his socks off and he's a great lad."
Bournemouth's Jason Tindall: "I felt we deserved the two goals and, had the game gone on for another five minutes, we might have got something. If you look at the goals we conceded, they did not deserve to score three goals because they came from our mistakes. The goals came at the wrong time for us and I did not think we deserved to be 3-0 down.
"That is football sometimes and if you like to attack and don't get your organisation sorted at the back, you are likely to be punished. Credit to Preston because they counter-attacked well and took their chances. When you are two or three nil down at home or away it is a mountain to climb and today was too big a mountain to climb."
