Bournemouth 1 Nott'm Forest 1
The Cherries welcomed Nottingham Forest to the Vitality Stadium, with the visitors in the precarious position of only being one point above the relegation zone. Deadline day signing Matz Sels made his debut in goal for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.
Bournemouth started in positive fashion as they looked to get back to the fine form they were showing before a few recent poor results. Sinisterra flicked a corner on at the near post and it was bundled over the line by Kluivert to give the hosts the lead.
The Vitality Stadium was rocking as they went ahead after only five minutes. Kluivert intimated that it was his teammate’s goal but there was no doubt he poached it at the back post. Not that it will matter to Andoni Iraola who put it over the line.
Forest are glad to have talisman Gibbs-White back from injury and it was his deft pass that put Awoniyi through on goal. The big striker slipped as he hit his shot but it still forced a save in the bottom corner from Neto.
Credit: @afcbournemouth
Dominguez won the ball in the middle of the park and spotted the run into the channel by Awoniyi. He did brilliantly to skip past Senesi but as he bared down on goal, his shot was disappointing and an easy save for the Bournemouth keeper.
The visitors’ build up play was looking good but they were severely lacking that clinical touch in the final third of the pitch. That was until Hudson-Odoi picked the ball up in added time. He shifted it onto his right foot and bent it past Neto into the bottom corner of the goal.
Both sides struggled to create chances in the second half but they were knocking on the door. Just at the final moment, the defences of either side seemed to get that all important clearance to deny the opposition a goalscoring opportunity.
It was quite an even game all in all and you had to wonder if either of these teams were going to be able to create that one moment of magic to win this game. Both managers made changes trying to freshen things up to give them the edge.
Biling had come off the bench for The Cherries but late in the game he was penalised for a foul on Hudson-Odoi. The referee showed the midfielder a straight red card and the replay showed that he deliberately stood on the Achilles of the Forest winger.
VAR reviewed the decision but saw no clear and obvious error to overrule Rebecca Welch. Despite going a player down, it was Bournemouth who tried to get a winner but Forest defended resolutely. Try as they might, neither side could find a way through in the second half.
Credit: @NFFC
The points were shared and Nottingham Forest remain two points clear of Everton in the final relegation place. Bournemouth are closer to mid-table and have a comfortable seven point cushion over the bottom three. A draw was a fair result as nothing could separate the two teams.
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