VAR drama as Gosling lifts gloom for Howe

watching the same routine play out of fall, grimace, wait and depart, which really has been the theme of this difficult season.

Diego Rico had gone down and at that point it was all too easy to see it as the story of the campaign.

Before this game Howe had no fewer than nine men out. Good men, too. Callum Wilson, out. Nathan Ake, out. Steve Cook, out. Harry Wilson, David Brooks, Charlie Daniels, Adam Smith — all out. When Rico went down amid the frantic mess of clearing an attack, Howe put his head in his hands. Then he turned away.

And when it became clear that a substitution was not needed, that Rico could come back on, Howe puffed out his cheeks.

A turning point? That would be an over-cooked interpretation but how important it could be, that reprieve from injury of another key player. And how important this win. They had only one in 10 before this match, but for whatever reason Chelsea away has been a decent fixture for Howe down the years. Even without the ball in the first 45 minutes they hung in there.

They weren’t conceding and by extension they were still alive. They started to make chances in the second half — Gosling had one, Josh King fluffed another with a heavy touch and eventually they got their goal and their win.

At the end Howe let out a scream and clenched both fists. It was justifiable. He hasn’t hidden from his problems — just witness his embarrassment the other day when asked about bigger jobs.

Bournemouth has been his life’s work and this slump will have hurt him far more than most in similar positions. For now, if only until the next game, he can breathe a little easier.