Justin Kluivert steps up to snatch Bournemouth win over Crystal Palace
The honeymoon is most definitely over for Oliver Glasner. Barely six weeks after he was appointed to replace Roy Hodgson, the Crystal Palace manager watched his side rack up a 10th successive away match without victory after the substitute Justin Kluivert’s late winner.
It was a third successive home win for Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth, who now find themselves 11 points clear of Palace and already planning for next season. Glasner, who has won only one of his five matches so far, has no such luxury with his side still nervously looking over their shoulders with games against Manchester City and Liverpool up next.
“It’s our job and responsibility to be decisive in the crucial moments and we have to learn from this,” said Glasner, who expects to have Michael Olise back from injury for City’s trip to Selhurst Park on Saturday. “I don’t know when but I’m really convinced that things will start falling our way. Nobody expects us to beat City but it’s a good chance for us to create a shock.”
Glasner selected Jefferson Lerma in an unfamiliar central defensive role against his former club but it was his decision to move the Colombian back into midfield late on and replace him with the teenager David Ozoh that proved costly. The outstanding Antoine Semenyo, who had been a late doubt due to illness and was rejected by Palace as a 15-year-old, created the game’s defining moment when he outmuscled Ozoh and picked out Kluivert to apply the finish.
Bournemouth have been in red-hot form here recently after the astonishing comeback victory over Luton and the late win over Everton on Saturday in front of the owner, Bill Foley. The American
was in attendance again to see a patched up team ease past Palace and Iraola said he was delighted with Semenyo’s impact off the bench.
“Antoine was outstanding – he was not feeling 100% but we decided to put him on the bench,” said the Bournemouth manager, who will be relishing meeting Foley this week. “I told him that he has to come to more matches and maybe we will keep winning.”
Dean Henderson had looked like being the difference between the sides after a string of fine saves that must have boosted his hopes of an England recall. Otherwise the only bright spot for the visitors was Joel Ward – signed from Portsmouth in 2012 after a spell at Bournemouth as a teenager when they were still in League Two – becoming the first Palace player to reach 300 Premier League appearances on a landmark evening for the 34-year-old.
The Palace captain did well to block a dangerous cross from Lloyd Kelly after a subdued opening period, with Jean-Philippe Mateta heading away Dango Ouattara’s dangerous flick on from the resulting corner.
But the French striker should have made more of his first sight of goal at the other end after Will Hughes had dispossessed Alex Scott on the edge of his own area, only to fire straight at Neto.
Henderson reached brilliantly to tip Philip Billing’s header from close range on to the crossbar before Kelly was then inches away with his header from the resulting corner as the hosts began to build some pressure.
Eberechi Eze thought he had given Palace the lead on the stroke of halftime when he fired home Jordan Ayew’s cross, only for it to be disallowed because Mateta was inches offside in the buildup.
Henderson, who was a teammate of Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook and Dominic
Solanke in the England side that won the Under-20 World Cup in 2017, was quickly out of his goal to deny the home striker after a teasing ball forward.
Solanke’s chances of adding to the solitary senior cap he won in 2017 against Brazil may rely on him outscoring rivals Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney. His first real sight of goal came after Henderson had palmed away a long-distance shot from the substitute Milos Kerkez, only for the Palace goalkeeper to recover well and make the save from a tight angle.
Semenyo almost made the points safe after setting up Kluivert’s goal with two shots that Henderson did well to beat away, but Glasner will be concerned with his side’s lack of creativity and knows they are not quite out of the woods just yet.