We started brightly, as we usually do at home. JRod had a couple of decent chances and came close to scoring. Looked very lively in the first half and faded a bit in the second, however he was moved to the wing once HRK came on.
I thought we kept the ball better in the first half, but by the second half a number of players were just lumping it anywhere to get it clear. Having said that Bournemouth were poor and didn't trouble us attacking-wise at all. Think Foster made one save and that was coming off his line in a 1v1.
Field was tidy at the start, and then the game seemed to pass him by, not sure if he was supposed to be the more advanced of the midfield three, but we were lacking in that department the whole game. Livermore and Yacob were solid and reasonably tidy in their distribution. Yacob kept finding himself on the end of our chances in their box too.
Phillips was eager to get on the ball, and he and McClean were our main out balls. We looked most threatening from corners and free kicks, but you might as well play to our strengths, especially against a reasonably small Bournemouth team.
Hegazi was my MoTM. Got the goal, had another chance straight after and totally bossed the Bournemouth strikers. Dawson was also excellent I thought. Brunt and Nyom didn't have much to do, although the former provided the assist for the goal and some excellent crosses into the box.
Didn't think much of any of the subs once they came on. Harper looked a little lost and a yard off the pace, although threaded a decent ball through to Rondon. Noticed a number of our players didn't feel comfortable giving him the ball either when the simple pass was on, which resulted in more risky passes being made that ultimately ended up coming straight back.
Rondon had a decent chance towards the end and forced Begovic into making a very good save. HRK ran around a lot and got given a silly booking for his troubles. Interesting that he was preferred as the lone striker once coming on and JRod was pushed out wide. In my opinion I'd have played the winger on the wing and the striker up front.
Overall we battled well and I was proud of the performance. One of those where the hard work and heart paid off at the end of the game, and there was a noticeable cheer at the final whistle, so I don't think I was the only one who was happy with the win.
The ref was pretty poor, very inconsistent with his decisions and the assistants seemed very hesitant to make any decisions at all.
Happy baggie, can see us taking a lot of points at home against the teams around/below us with professional performances like that again. All that was missing for me was a decent, more advanced midfielder, as playing effectively 3 DMs at home wasn't that entertaining and didn't help us to bring (and keep) the ball once we'd won it back, meaning we resorted to the long out-ball, and ultimately the 29% stat.
This is something I've noticed before. From set pieces we always have Yacob in the box and McClean on the edge. Surely it makes more sense to have McClean in the box?
Claudio actually missed a sitter against Arsenal in this exact scenario.
