THE BOURNE SUPREMACY
The secret’s out... Kluivert and Tavernier prove Cherries are thriving under Iraola
TWO-GOAL Marcus Tavernier warned the rest of the Premier League that Bournemouth are only just getting going.
Andoni Iraola’s side pulled further clear of the relegation zone with an impressive destruction of limp Sheffield United.
After not picking up a win in their opening nine league games, it was a third success in four outings.
Ex-Middlesbrough wide man Tavernier had not scored in seven months but he struck twice in 38 minutes here, showing the newfound confidence surging through Iraola’s team.
During the build-up, Iraola had tipped him to break his season duck.
Tavernier, 24, revealed:
“He’s been telling me to keep doing the same things. I have been feeling relaxed and that’s the best thing for an attacking player. I’m just disappointed that I couldn’t get three goals today.”
Having latched onto a clever ball from the outstanding Antoine Semenyo to open the scoring in the 12th minute (far right), Tavernier blazed another clear chance over the bar before getting his second early in the second period to make it 3-0.
Bournemouth were opening up awful United with ease at that point, picking them apart without even having to move through the gears.
After an embarrassing howler from United keeper Wes Foderingham, Justin Kluivert delivered his first league strike since his big-money summer move from Roma. In doing so, the Holland striker became only the third player to score in all of Europe’s big five leagues, having previously netted in La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga.
Kluivert was another lively attacking threat and Tavernier admitted it was a joy to have so many options raiding forward.
It is clear the attacking philosophies of Iraola (below, hugging keeper Neto at the final whistle) are starting to reap dividends following his summer arrival. Tavernier added: “You can see that we’re really starting to take on board what the manager has been saying. I don’t think we were doing the key things he’d been asking for. But we’ve been working on that in training so much and you can finally see that in the games now. “We knew at the start of the season we weren’t good enough and we weren’t playing the way we wanted to.
“But we’re starting to do that now and starting to show to everyone what we can do in this league.
“We can go to a really good place. We created loads of chances. We probably can be a bit critical in that we didn’t score enough. There’s definitely more to come.” The Cherries face five Premier League matches between now and Christmas. Next weekend they are at home to in-form Aston Villa, who showed their worth with an impressive victory at Spurs yesterday. Then it’s trips to Crystal Palace and Manchester United before a home clash with Luton and an away date at Nottingham Forest.
United had picked up four points from their last two games before the international break but were dismal here (George Baldock showing his frustration, above).
They were booed off at half-time and full-time and did not have a shot on target until the 88th minute – no wonder Oli McBurnie’s 96th minute consolation was met by ironic cheers. Rooted in the bottom three, Paul Heckingbottom’s side head to Burnley on Saturday desperate to respond after easily their worst display of the campaign.