Aston Villa 1-2 Bournemouth: Villa cling on to Premier League status despite 23rd defeat

By Lyall Thomas

Saturday 9 April 2016 18:56, UK

Aston Villa were granted a Premier League stay of execution, despite suffering an 11th home defeat of the season with a 2-1 loss against Bournemouth.

The bottom-placed side - 15 points adrift of safety with five games left - would have been relegated had Norwich bettered their result at Crystal Palace, but the Canaries' defeat means they must wait a little longer for the inevitable to be confirmed.

Cherries centre-back Steve Cook gave the visitors a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time when his skillful flick beat Brad Guzan at the near post and striker Josh King capitalised on poor defending (74) to fire the visitors 2-0 ahead.

Jordan Ayew rewarded a second-half Villa resurgence but his goal with five minutes left was in vain.

Interim boss Eric Black made four changes to the side thumped 4-0 at the hands of Chelsea last week, with 20-year-old Jordan Lyden coming in at right-back for the suspended Alan Hutton.

But the Australia U20 international had a torrid time of it as Bournemouth controlled the first half and attacked most from the left-hand side, where Charlie Daniels, Max Gradel and the impressive Lewis Grabban looked menacing.

Villa - whose relegation could be confirmed on Sunday were Sunderland to shock leaders Leicester - had idle chances, with Ashley Westwood and Kieran Richardson firing shots high over the bar, while Scott Sinclair was disappointing with his crossing from the right-hand side.

Bournemouth grew in strength as the first half drew to a close and were rewarded for their intricate passing with a goal of the highest quality; Matt Ritchie's drag-back setting-up Simon Francis to square the ball to Cook, who flicked it home with his heel.

Villa were better in the tackle but not with the ball in the second-half and Bournemouth could have had a penalty on 56 minutes when King broke into the box and appeared to be fouled by Joleon Lescott, but nothing was given.

Substitute Rudy Gestede, who replaced youngster Lyden at half-time, then missed a glorious chance to equalise when Ayew's firm cross beat the striker through his legs from three yards out.

King did excellently to grab Bournemouth's second when he jumped on a poor touch from Lescott, who had received a heavy pass, and lifted the ball over Guzan.

There was fight left in the hosts, and Idrissa Gana pushed through midfield to find Ayew on 85 minutes, whose agility confused his marker and space opened up to poke home his sixth goal of the campaign.

But it was too little too late for Villa, who have lost eight games in a row and 23 matches all season.

Bournemouth saw out the final minutes and Eddie Howe was even able to bring on Callum Wilson for a first appearance since he suffered a serious knee injury in October.

Phil Thompson's Soccer Saturday verdict

"This was a Bournemouth side that probably were still in second gear and yet they were far better than Villa.

"I think Ayew's goal was their first shot on target. Defensively there's always a mistake and that's the way it is for this Villa side. You feel sorry for the fans."

Player ratings

Aston Villa: Guzan (6); Lyden (5), Clark (5), Lescott (5), Cissokho (5); Bacuna (5), Westwood (6), Gana (7), Richardson (6); Ayew (7), Sinclair (5).

Subs used: Adama (5), Gestede (5), Grealish (5).

Bournemouth: Boruc (7); Francis (7), Elphick (7), Cook (8), Daniels (7); Ritchie (7), Gosling (7), Surman (7), Gradel (7); Grabban (7), King (7).

Subs used: Macdonald (6), Pugh (7), Wilson (6).

Man of the match: Steve Cook