CHERRIES LEFT SOUR BY SMITH Sub Matt’s 1st
Touch levels it
MATT SMITH came off the bench to score with his first touch of the game and crush Bournemouth’s hopes of going second.
Millwall’s supersub struck 11 minutes from time to cancel out Dominic Solanke’s opener.
Smith poked the ball beyond the advancing Asmir Begovic after Jake Cooper f licked it on.
Solanke had earlier bagged his 10th goal of the season to give the Cherries the lead in first- half stoppage time.
This game was original ly scheduled to t ake place on Boxing Day and Bournemouth looked determined to make up for lost time in early exchanges.
David Brooks was denied by a smart save f rom Bartosz Bial kowski aft er only three minutes following a mazy run.
And Alex Pearce made a brave block to keep out Junior Stanislas’ goalbound shot at the end of an excellent team move.
Against the run of play, Jed Wallace missed an opportunity to give Millwall the lead in the
24th minute after ra ci ng on t o Ryan through ball.
Wallace had only to slot the ball beyond Begovic to claim his seventh goal of the season, but drove his effort at the Bosnian.
And Begovic made a sprawling save to palm away Wallace’s 25- yard free- kick as Millwall began to grow in confidence.
But the Lions were trailing at half- time after being hit by a sucker punch in stoppage time.
Stanislas slotted in Solanke down the left and the striker crashed the ball into the bottom corner from a tight angle.
West Brom loanee Kenneth Z o hore c a me c l o s e t o a n equaliser 15 minutes from time when his free- kick hit the post.
But Smith pounced to level, seconds after being brought on as part of an inspired triple change from Lions boss Gary Rowett, to gain a precious point. BOURNEMOUTH: Begovic 6, S Cook 5, Simpson 5, Kelly 5, Smith 5, Lerma 6 ( Riquelme 83), L Cook 6, Rico 6 ( Stacey 87), Brooks 6 ( King, 83), Solanke 7, Stanislas 7 ( Billing, 71, 6)
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