Palace suffer as comeback King strikes
FOR late drama, look no further than Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth.
For the seventh successive Premier League game involving the Cherries, a goal was scored after the 89th minute, and this time it saved them from losing to Crystal Palace.
It was Josh King who stabbed the ball home with only 60 seconds of normal time left, cancelling out a wonderful Wilfried Zaha strike that had the visitors dreaming of safety.
There was only quarter of an hour to go when Zaha left two home players on their backsides, executed an exquisite turn and blasted the ball into the back of the net.
But Bournemouth do not know when to give up. They are the Premier League’s comeback kings, having now won a leaguehigh 18 points from losing positions this season.
They refused to wave the white flag and got their reward. ‘Never a dull moment,’ Howe said. ‘It’s not good for the health for me. I’m sure it’s the same for the supporters. Edge-of-our-seat stuff.’
Isn’t it just. Bournemouth were 1-0 down after a Luka Milivojevic free kick, then clawed their way back to 1-1 via substitute Lys Mousset.
When Zaha made it 2-1 to Palace, they knew not to throw in the towel, and King’s tap-in completed the scoreline. It leaves them two points off the magic 40 mark.
Palace, meanwhile, were left licking their wounds. ‘We’re disappointed,’ boss Roy Hodgson said. ‘We’ve played very well and it’s frustrating. We certainly created enough chances to put the game to bed but we didn’t take them. It’s going to be a dogfight with all the teams down there.’
Bournemouth could have taken the lead after only 40 seconds when Callum Wilson, whose shots were wayward all afternoon, fluffed his lines from a cross.
Little was going Zaha’s way and the winger was getting wound up. He decided to take his frustration out on Lewis Cook when the two were caught in an ugly tussle.
After the break, Jermain Defoe fouled Yohan Cabaye, 25 yards out. Milivojevic sent the ball over the wall and it was 1-0. It was the Serb’s 10th Premier League goal of the season.
It should have been 2-0 when Patrick van Aanholt had only Asmir Begovic to beat with no defenders close to him. He took too long and the keeper saved.
In the 62nd minute, Bournemouth brought on Mousset. In the 65th, he equalised, sending a first-time shot into the bottom corner of the net from distance.
Ten minutes later, Zaha shoved off Dan Gosling, spun Ryan Fraser, shot from outside of the area and beat Begovic. Gosling felt he was fouled in the build-up but referee Jonathan Moss was having none of it.
Yet there was still time for a further twist and it came from another Bournemouth substitute in King. A corner was swung in and he tapped it in for 2-2. Another comeback completed.