Bournemouth vs Burnley. Premier League.
Vitality StadiumAttendance10,020.
Report and highlights as Burnley score with the only shot on target
Sunday 22 December 2019 12:57, UK
Jay Rodriguez's 89th-minute goal handed Burnley a scrappy 1-0 win against Bournemouth in torrential conditions at the Vitality Stadium.
The rain and wind created difficult conditions on the south coast, but the game was littered with fouls, free-kicks and bookings. The pick of the first-half action was Simon Francis and Ryan Fraser giving Bournemouth some injury scares, but the hosts escaped any more casualties in their treatment room.
Bournemouth improved in attack after the break but there were no shots on target until Rodriguez bundled the ball into the back of the net with one minute of normal time to play. VAR checked the goal for handball, but it was quickly given in another blow for Bournemouth.
The Cherries could not capitalise on their late win against Chelsea last weekend and remain in 14th with 19 points, while Burnley edge into 10th having picked up their second away Premier League win of the season.
There were very few chances to speak of in a first half littered with stoppages in the swirling Bournemouth rain. Inside 10 minutes, the hosts thought they had suffered another injury blow when Francis went crashing to the ground after taking an unintentional boot to the head from Ashley Barnes. However, the defender soon had his head strapped up with tape and carried on with the game, with the Vitality Stadium breathing a sigh of relief.
There were two shots in the first half and they came within six minutes of one another. The first saw Jefferson Lerma send a speculative effort well over the crossbar in the 17th minute before Barnes' shot from the top of the area was deflected behind for a corner.
In the 36th minute, there was another nervy moment for Bournemouth as James Tarkowski sent Fraser smashing to the floor with a robust tackle, giving the forward a bloody nose. There was a flash of anger as Ashley Westwood hounded referee Martin Atkinson to plead Tarkowski's case, which Francis took exception to, but a small confrontation was soon defused.
Bournemouth 'keeper Aaron Ramsdale made some good saves towards the end of the half too, despite the vicious wind. The first came from a Westwood corner, which he flicked over the crossbar with his hand, before he collected a swinging Dwight McNeil cross. Chris Wood did clatter into Ramsdale inside the six-yard box, but there was nothing given against the striker.
The second half was very much like the first - a lot of stoppages and plenty of yellow cards - but Bournemouth were improved in attack after Callum Wilson replaced Lewis Cook at the break. In the first two minutes, Josh King fizzed a cross into the area, but Phil Bardsley was just ahead of Fraser to nick the ball away. King was then the provider again as he tried to pick out the run of Wilson, but it just went past the striker's outstretched foot.
Bournemouth could have had Philip Billing sent off in the 67th minute, but he was saved by VAR. Before the hosts could take a corner, Barnes went to the floor clutching his face with Nick Pope furious, but it was not immediately clear why.
Replays showed Barnes had pushed Billing into the back of the net and the Bournemouth midfielder raised an arm and caught the striker in the face. The players congregated in the six-yard box to defend their respective team-mates, but after a check from Stockley Park, Billing remained on the field.
The game looked to be meandering towards a dull draw, but Burnley produced the ultimate smash-and-grab in the 89th minute. Westwood clipped a lovely ball into the middle of the area and Rodriguez bundled the ball home into the bottom corner, past the outstretched hand of Ramsdale. VAR checked the goal for handball with a combination of a shoulder and chest sending the ball home, but it did not take long to award it as Burnley saw the game out for a second successive Premier League win.
Westwood had been an injury doubt before the game but showed no ill-effects in a difficult Premier League encounter. It was his incisive, clipped pass that allowed Rodriguez to score and was a rare moment of quality at the Vitality Stadium.
He made 31 passes - 18 of which were successful - and helped out at the back too. He made two tackles - the joint-highest along with Ben Mee - and gained possession eight times, two more than the next highest in the Burnley team (Jeff Hendrick with six).
It was not a game blessed with quality but Westwood kept things ticking over when he needed to, which is important when grinding out results on the road.
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe: "We feel hugely disappointed to lose the game, I thought we were the better team in the second half, it was a much improved performance. The first half was very scrappy and we didn't control the game in the way that we wanted but we felt that we should have won the game with the amount of ball and pressure we had in the second half. We didn't create many chances, but to lose the game is a devastating blow.
"It wasn't a great game of football, it wasn't one for the purists. There was a lot of free kicks given away by both teams which frustrated me greatly because you know every free-kick for Burnley is going to come into your box and we put ourselves under unnecessary pressure. But we didn't create enough in the box. In the second half, we had a lot of the ball and a lot of set plays going in but we didn't get our head on much."
Burnley manager Sean Dyche: "I'm pleased with the 50th Premier League win, I'm less pleased with the performance. It was an ugly weather day, which made it hard for both teams, and the performance was not much better. But the resoluteness of the group, the shape, the defending ability was all on show and you have to use all the weapons you've got to try and get points or wins in the Premier League and I think we've done that today.
"I'm delighted for Jay and the lads gave him a big cheer on the way in. We've got a tight group and yet again today, it's the first time in a while that we've had a lot of injuries and we've got a competitive group but it shows the respect they've got. They were delighted for Jay, he keeps working hard for us and comes off the bench and tries to affect the game and he's found a nice goal for himself today.
"It was an ugly win today, but we've got to do that - we've done it in the past and we'll have to do it again. We want to build on things and we need to play better than that in the future, but we will gladly take the three points, make no mistake."
Bournemouth will be at home on Boxing Day as they host Arsenal in Mikel Arteta's first game in charge. In a strange twist of fate, Burnley will travel to Everton on December 26 as Carlo Ancelotti makes his Goodison Park debut.
