SPOT OF JUSTICE
Penalty is fair reward after Roy’s lucky break
For Bournemouth, this appeared to be the night when it was just not meant to be.
Eddie Howe endured the mighty injustice of an offside equaliser against his team and would have been cursing the profligacy of his forward Callum Wilson, who should have converted late on when ryan Fraser nutmegged Mamadou Sakho on the half-way line, scurried towards goal and laid it on a plate. Instead, Wilson’s tame finish was well saved by Wayne Hennessey.
The goalkeeper then responded superbly well to deny Dan Gosling’s header. A deserved win appeared elusive as a free-kick floated over in the 87th minute and Palace headed away comfortably. Yet amid the melee of competing shirts, Sakho recklessly stuck out an arm, caught Jefferson Lerma in the face and sent the Colombian crashing to the floor. referee Mike Dean, who had already warned Sakho before the ball came in, blew up and substitute Junior Stanislas converted.
‘ We paid a high price for a mistake,’ said Palace manager Hodgson. ‘Sakho has no intention to use his elbow to stop the player getting to the ball, but he does catch the player.’
Fair though it was, it did raise the temperature, and three players were booked when a melee erupted after Cheikhou Kouyate and Lerma squared up.
Before the penalty, Bournemouth might have pined for VAr. For 55 minutes, they were the superior side. Yet the path to victory was complicated by a rotten call from the assistant referee. True, Palace returned from an insipid first-half display with an enhanced level of commitment, pinned the home team back and might have equalised sooner had James McArthur not spurned an opening by leaning back and scooping over the bar.
Yet Bournemouth were in control — thanks to a superbly worked early strike by David Brooks — when the officials erred to let Palace back in. Wilfried Zaha, contained until this point, slid the ball down the inside left channel. Patrick van Aanholt controlled and thrashed a rightfoot strike into the roof of the goal. Yet replays demonstrated that the left back was a yard offside and with the assistant referee in line, it was a dreadful decision.
Palace, inhibited for 45 minutes, grew in authority. Andros Townsend’s rasping effort flew wide. Indeed, Howe was even forced to substitute Brooks, the star of the first half, as he sought to reassert his team’ s domination.
Bournemouth have made an encouraging start to the campaign — they are now only two points behind the top four — and this result ensured the unexpected 4-0 defeat at Burnley last week can be cast as an aberration rather than a warning sign.
Howe’s side played with greater thrust, and when they cut open the visitors in the opening moments, Wilson was caught on his heels as the ball rolled across the six-yard box. But the opening goal arrived after five minutes and it was a magnificent strike by Brooks. Adam Smith measured a low cross for Wilson, who held off Sakho and teed up Brooks, whose side-footed finish crashed off the underside of the bar and in for his first Premier League goal.
Brooks, a 21-year-old Welshman signed from Sheffield United in the summer for £ 12million, deserved his goal. operating on the same flank as Zaha, this slight and dainty figure eclipsed his more illustrious opponent.
Not only did Brooks illuminate this game with an outstanding early finish, he showed strength and resilience to earn free-kicks in tight spaces and dropped shoulders to deceive opponents.
Brooks might have fallen out of the English game when he was released by Manchester City at the age of 16. Thankfully, Sheffield United took a chance and Howe said: ‘He has great quality and is a great goalscorer-in-waiting.’
The Bournemouth boss adopted the bolder approach, playing with two wingers, two speedy frontmen and a midfield blessed with guile and creativity.
The vibrant display unsettled the usually well- drilled Palace and that was never more clear than in Sakho’s decisive moment of madness.