Simpson gets his hand on a point to deny Bournemouth
BOURNEMOUTH were denied three points by a wave of Danny Simpson’s right arm that kept this game goalless.
The contentious moment came in the third minute as the Leicester full-back clearly handled to block Marc Pugh’s rebound that was heading in.
The move began when Joshua King’s one-two with Jermain Defoe set him free on the right and as Defoe continued his run into the penalty area his team-mate crossed low. Defoe shot firsttime and high at the near post but the ball came back out off the underside of the woodwork.
Pugh was at the back post to place the ball in, but Simpson’s hand knocked the ball wide. There was no doubt it was a penalty, although referee Graham Scott was not in a position to see it.
‘I’ve got sympathy for him,’ Eddie Howe said. ‘I didn’t see it at the time, I was on other side of the pitch. Pugh’s reaction gave me a sign something was amiss. If you see it again it’s a clearcut penalty. That’s not the reason we didn’t win, it was in our hands and we didn’t take those chances when they came.’
Howe was spot on: Bournemouth had only themselves to blame for not securing the extra two points against a dire Leicester. After recent worrying performances, he will be pleased they are at least ticking again.
Kasper Schmeichel performed valiantly for Leicester, saving with his legs as King beat two defenders and shot low, and again early in the second half, when Junior Stanislas struck another effort and the Dane dived and held.
Shinji Okazaki wasted Leicester’s only chance, sidefooting wide from seven yards. The rest was all Bournemouth.
A Pugh long-range strike missed the left post. An Andrew Surman curler missed the right. Leicester manager Craig Shakespeare was left ‘happy with a point’. Leicester got lucky, but come the end of the season, Bournemouth might need those two points.