Cherries hit the deck after DJ makes his point
JONATHAN WOODGATE’S promotionchasing Cherries were picked off by a Preston side who looked to be on their way to their 10th home defeat of the season.
The first half had been a sea of red and black moving towards Daniel Iversen’s goal with Alex Neil’s side in danger of being swamped.
Bournemouth boss Woodgate, who has seen his side drop out of the top six, said: “We are really frustrated.
I felt the first-half performance was terrific. We could have been 2-0 or 3-0 up at half-time. We should have put the game to bed.”
The biggest surprise was that the home side had held out until the
37th minute with Iversen a formidable one-man barrier.
He had saved brilliantly from Lloyd Kelly, who was set up by Jefferson Lerma, who was himself a victim of the Danish
Under-21 international’s agility.
Lewis Cook saw his effort blocked while Arnaut Danjuma was foiled by another smart stop.
But it was the Dutch international who made the breakthrough, much to the relief of Woodgate and his coaching staff who were wondering whether there would be any reward for their early efforts.
Dominic Solanke outmuscled defender Jordan Storey and unselfishly found Danjuma to side-foot ambitious Bournemouth into the lead.
But Preston came out after the break with more energy and menace, no doubt following a blast from boss Neil.
And it was a glaring error from Steve Cook which handed Preston a welcome 70th-minute lifeline.
His attempted clearance on the turn fell into the path of Daniel Johnson who gleefully accepted the gift and went on to curl a low shot past Asmir Begovic.
Preston could even have snatched a win with Ben Whiteman forcing Begovic to tip over a fierce drive.
ADAM MASINA’S first goal in 13 months sealed Watford’s sixth win in seven games – and vindicated his manager’s belief that fortune favours the brave.
Down to one fit midfielder, the Hornets overcame the fact they had square pegs in round holes to go second above Brentford.
And head coach Xisco Munoz, who has told left-back Masina to venture forward more often, said: “He is a very good player and right now is the moment to push him and challenge him.
“In the last two games he was in the opposition penalty box more and we want to see him get forward, but the most important thing is that he showed good ambition and he wants to do his best for the team.”
Asked if Watford’s surge into the automatic promotion places had shifted all the pressure on to the chasing pack, Munoz said: “No – we need to continue to work very hard and stay humble.”
Powder-puff Forest had been on a decent run but on a pristine Vicarage Road carpet of a pitch they couldn’t see the wood for the trees.
Apart from Lyle Taylor’s finish, ruled out for offside, and Cafu’s deflected effort that went narrowly wide they never looked like scoring, despite the home side being forced to play top scorer Joao Pedro in midfield.
Forest boss Chris Hughton (above) said: “That game summed up why Watford are where they are in the table – and why we are where we are.
“In the final third they looked more threatening than we did but they were fine margins.
“I have issues with the goal because it’s a poor one to concede but the stats say the final third is where we need to do better. “I don’t like to think or talk about looking over our shoulders but I’m still conscious we are in with a group of teams where it could go either way in terms of results.”
The winner, after 17 minutes, punished Forest for leaving the advancing Masina in acres of space.
Flying winger Ismaila Sarr’s low cross was only parried by Brice Samba and the Italian defender drilled his first goal since February 2020 low past the Forest keeper, who was dazed by a collision with Andre Gray.
The Hornets should have made life easier for themselves shortly after the break but Gray – a scorer of two midweek goals against Wycombe – just failed to connect with Kiko Femenia’s cross at the far post.
Free agent Carlos Sanchez, who was a dead loss at West Ham and Aston Villa, helped to close out the last 25 minutes on his debut after signing a short-term contract last week, as the Hornets kept their eighth clean sheet in 13 games and maintained their momentum.