RYAN AIR STRIKES
B’mouth .... 2 Cardiff .... 0
BOURNEMOUTH boss Eddie Howe is backing Cardiff to defy the critics and make a stab of staying in the Premier League – despite seeing his team beat them 2-0.
Goals from Ryan Fraser after 24 minutes and Callum Wilson in injury time gave the Cherries their first-ever victory on the opening day of a Premier League campaign.
The fact that the performance came on the 10th anniversary of starting a League Two season with a 17-point deduction for going into administration made it all the more sweet.
And Howe is adamant that the people who are already writing Cardiff off should take that story into consideration.
The Bluebirds are hot favourites to go straight back down after winning promotion to the top flight and then spending only £29million on new signings. But they gave it a go at the Vitality Stadium.
Howe said: “This league is so tough, they will find that out. But they have unique things about them – a way of playing that they stick to and a really good team spirit. A very experienced manager too.
“I wouldn’t write anybody off after one game. We’ve lost our first game of the season every time until now and we’ve found a way of staying up.”
Howe had special praise for striker Wilson, whose injury-hit career means he has never managed 10 goals in a season in the top flight for the Cherries.
But he was on the scoresheet this time and also missed a penalty.
“I’m not so worried about him getting 10 goals,” said Howe. “He’ll have his own targets but I’m just worried about what he does for the team – how he runs, presses and holds the ball up. And he did all of those today.” Cardiff’s famously vocal boss Neil Warnock was surprisingly calm both during and after the game – even though the penalty awarded by referee Kevin Friend at 1-0 was highly dubious. Maybe the fact that keeper Neil Etheridge saved Wilson’s spot-kick eased his anger.
“It was as soft as I’ve seen,” Warnock said. “But overall I have to be pleased with our performance. We went right to the end and we could’ve got a result out of the game.”
The fact Bournemouth could spend £25m on Colombia star Jefferson Lerma gave Cardiff a warning of how tough this would be.
Warnock said he wanted to bid for the same player – but could only afford to offer £5m. That gap in stature was reflected in the scoreline in the end, even though Lerma did not feature.
Bournemouth went ahead when Josh King fed Wilson – and the striker’s excellent cut-back was steered home by winger Fraser.
It should have been 2-0 when referee Friend pointed to the spot as Bruno Ecuele Manga tangled with Wilson in Begovic 7; A Smith 6 (Defoe 90th), Cook 6, Ake 7, Daniels 5; Brooks 6 (Francis the area. It looked soft – but not as soft as Wilson’s low penalty which was comfortably kept out. That gave Cardiff encouragement and they gave it a real go in the second half, with new signing Josh Murphy coming off the bench.
They almost equalised when Sean Morrison had a close-range effort scrambled away by Asmir Begovic. But Bournemouth also missed a host of chances – including a free header for Wilson and a chance for £10m signing David Brooks, who made a great start in front of watching Wales boss Ryan Giggs. Wilson grabbed Bournemouth’s deserved second when he steered home in injury time after great work by substitute Simon Francis.