Spirited City go down battling against big-spending Cherries
Talking points from Bristol City’s defeat to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, by
IT’S the hope that kills you sometimes. It was always going to be a monumental task but when Rob Atkinson leaped highest in the opening few minutes maybe, just maybe, one of the results that make the Championship one of the best leagues in the world was on the cards.
Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out like that with the quality in Scott Parker’s side coming out on top in an enjoyable, frantic and, ultimately, deflating five-goal contest.
City came up against a Premier League side with Premier League players and managed to stay into the contest until the final whistle, despite arriving into the fixture with a number of injuries.
They left it all out there until the final whistle, and despite being less than two miles away from the sea, there were no signs that the players are on the beach just yet.
Here’s the match verdict as City made the trip back to Bristol with their pride intact but without any points.
PARACHUTE PAYMENTS PAY DIVIDENDS
BOURNEMOUTH paid £19 million for Dominic Solanke less than three years ago - yes, they were a Premier League side at the time but the fact of the matter is the forward costs more than the entire City squad combined.
The forward showed his quality on Saturday afternoon, getting himself on the scoresheet and causing City’s defence all sort of problems. Jefferson Lerma cost them £25m, Philip Billing, £15m you get the picture.
Research on the parachute payments came out in the week prior to the fixture which emphasises the disparity of money dished out between your so-called ‘normal’
Championship teams and those who have recently been in the Premier League.
Among all the technicals of the data concluded, it’s easy to simplify it to reveal that the Cherries received around £30m last year as they charge their way to promotion. Clubs with payments also received an average of £53m revenue compared to £14.5m without.
They’ve certainly wasted no time spending it like a rich kid letting loose around Harrods on a Sunday morning. Just in January for example, they added Kieffer Moore, Todd Cantwell, Siriki Dembele, Freddy Woodman and Nat Phillips to their ranks. On the bench on Saturday they had Dembele, Cantwell, Gary Cahill and Ben Pearson. Compare that to City’s bench that had youngsters Josh Owers, Sam Bell, Tommy Conway and Ayman Benarous on it.
Those comparisons are only to highlight the disparity between the two sides at the moment, there’s no reason why City’s young stars can’t go and forge hugely successful careers.
Yes, City were chasing shadows for long periods but the result and performance has to be put into perspective.
OUTPLAYED BUT NOT OUTFOUGHT
IT was always going to be a game of attack versus defence and some of Bournemouth’s movement outside of the area and down the flanks was a different level at times.
However, what City lacked in quality, they made up for in their attitude and desire which is why the manager was accepting of the defeat after the game.
One too many times this season we have seen City crumble once that first goal goes in against them.
Swansea, Barnsley, Reading, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham are just a few games to mention.
You can’t shy away from the fact that City conceded three more goals to take their goals against tally up to 72 but the players continued to put up a fight that deserves credit in itself.
The stats paint a picture of Bournemouth’s dominance. They had 68 per cent possession, 25 shots and 12 corners in total but City weren’t going to go down without a fight.
With the game at 2-1, Chris Martin should have had a penalty. Pearson thought it was, Scott Parker didn’t, funny that... but the challenge was clumsy and from behind and spot-kicks have been given for far less than that.
Without stating the obvious, that goes in who knows what would have happened. Moments later the Bournemouth stopper pulls off a brilliant save to deny Martin from close range after a brilliant break sparked by Nahki Wells.
Then came the killer blow when Dembele added the third but on another day, City could have easily been playing the last 20 minutes or so with a point at least within reach.
A DEFENCE TO STICK WITH (FOR NOW)
THE back three have now had four consecutive games together and they’ve conceded seven goals.
It’s not a record to shout from the rooftops, but there have been enough signs to suggest there’s certainly a partnership to work with.
Against West Brom before the
international break, it was only an offside goal that condemned City to a late draw and two goals conceded. On Saturday, the trio defended resolutely, showing their discipline and concentration to snuff out Bournemouth’s attacks for long periods.
If we’re dissecting the goals, the first was a well-worked piece of play, that saw Jay Dasilva caught out on the overlap before the cross fell into the path of Solanke. The second was very poor, with Cook’s strike from distance missing the outstretched leg of Andi Weimann and nestling in at the near post. The third was a decent piece of play from Dembele who used his fresh legs to skip inside Alex Scott and Timm Klose before finding the corner.
But there was plenty of good stuff on show throughout, including the fact that City appear to have plugged the gap on their defending set-piece records.
Bournemouth had 12 corners on Saturday and City, on the whole, dealt with them really well. Not only that, Atkinson even managed to turn the tide and score from a City corner in the opening five minutes.
Robbie Cundy was excellent throughout (except the blatant yellow card) which eventually led to his substitution with 10 minutes left to play.
He made a terrific tackle inside his own box in the first half in front of the travelling fans which sparked a rendition of a chant from the sold-out support.