King strikes again to lift Bournemouth to new high

Josh King scored his 16th goal of the season to take Bournemouth beyond the 42 points they earned in their first Premier League season as the former Blackburn Rovers striker’s reputation continues to grow.

Only Romelu Lukaku has more goals than King in 2017 and Burnley manager Sean Dyche joked that, had he still been playing, he would have “kicked him into the stands after 12 seconds”.

This was not a game that promised much, with Bournemouth already safe and Burnley also guaranteed to play in the Premier League again next season, barring an improbable mathematical swing. For the most part, it was standard end-of-season fare and Junior Stanislas’s goal midway through the first half, when he stroked in after controlling Lewis Cook’s long pass, seemed destined to be the only incident of note.

Burnley recorded their first away win of the season last time out at Crystal Palace, but never looked like repeating the feat here. Other than some promising efforts from distance from Scott Arfield, Artur Boruc was rarely troubled in the Bournemouth goal.

But after seeing former Bournemouth striker Sam Vokes expertly nod home Johann Gudmundsson’s cross six minutes from time, Dyche would have expected to leave with a point.

King had other ideas. The striker was on hand to convert Ryan Fraser’s low cross just a minute later, giving Bournemouth all three points.

On the balance of play they deserved it, though Bournemouth were far from their best. With Jack Wilshere now consigned to the treatment room, Eddie Howe’s side struggled to find their rhythm at times and created few clear chances despite dominating play.

The season represents a further enhancement of Howe’s CV and he can be pleased with what he described as his team’s “difficult second season”.

“Last season we tailed off and it was a horrible feeling and a horrible way to end, despite the fact that we had a great season overall,” said the Bournemouth manager. “It’s much better to finish it this way.”

Mathematicians will say Burnley are not officially safe, but Dyche said: “I don’t want to be hypercritical of the players because they’ve had some really big games recently – to reach that 40-point mark was a relief as much as anything,” he said.

Both Dyche and Howe have spoken of the need to keep their squads together, but it is they who are the clubs’ most valuable assets.