Lerma’s off day has Scott fuming
PARKER LAMENTS RED CARD
SCOTT PARKER knew Bournemouth were in trouble when Jefferson Lerma walked off.
The Cherries were cruising back to the top of the Championship after Jaidon Anthony and Philip Billing had them 2-0 up.
But midfielder-comecentre-back Lerma’s lastman tackle on Matt Godden saw him dismissed and begin a collapse ending in Todd Kane’s 95th-minute equaliser.
Cherries chief Parker (right) said: “The red card definitely changes the game.
“There isn’t much I can say apart from how devastated I am for the team because for 70 minutes we were in control. With 11 men we dominated the game in every aspect of our play, and then the sending-off changes it a lot and we haven’t managed to hold on.
“I’m gutted for the players. Football has a habit of kicking you in the bits where you don’t want it and that happened for us.
“If we were sitting here with us having 11 men and winning, we would be marvelling at how well the team did.”
Lerma’s hefty tackle came after a loose pass from Jack Stacey and his own heavy touch, and appeared an obvious red card from ref David Coote. Parker added: “At the time, and I don’t know if this is the emotion talking, but I thought Steve Cook might have been coming around and covering. However, I might be totally wrong. I’ve not seen it back.”
Striker Godden set up the crazy finale with a powerful finish with five minutes to spare.
Bournemouth keeper Mark Travers was needed for two stunning saves in stoppage time before Kane produced a deft chip to send the vocal away support wild.
Sky Blues boss Mark Robins was full of praise for Bournemouth but revealed the red card gave his side a clear path to a point. Robins said: “I thought it was a good game.
“They are brilliant and you have to be really careful.
“The sending-off was a turning point.
“When it happened, it just made things a little clearer in terms of how we could attack them and get back into the game.
“We could have got anxious and gone long but they were calm and carried on playing the way we wanted them to play, got into some good positions.
“And then Todd Kane saw the keeper off his line and produced the deftest chip
I’ve seen this season. It just dropped in.
“We were getting overloads and moving the ball well. We know they don’t deal with crosses brilliantly and longer balls.” BOURNEMOUTH: Travers 6; Mepham 6, S Cook 6, Lerma 5; Stacey 5, Kilkenny 5 (Ibsen Rossi 87), L Cook 7, Billing 8, Anthony 8 (Marcondes 90); Christie 6 (Davis 79), Solanke 6 Subs not used: Nyland, Moriah-Welsh, Rogers, Lowe.
COVENTRY CITY: Moore 6; Dabo 6, McFadzean 6, Hyam 6; Kane 8, Sheaf 6 (Jones 86), Kelly 6, Maatsen 6; Allen 6 (Gyokeres 63, 6), O’Hare 6; Godden 8.
Subs not used: Wilson, Walker, Shipley, Eccles. MAN OF THE MATCH: Matt Godden. won the red card with his persistence before his goal set up a chaotic finale.
REFEREE: David Coote 4.