Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace. Premier League.
Vitality StadiumAttendance10,730.
Saturday 7 April 2018 18:03, UK
Josh King's 89th-minute strike salvaged a point for Bournemouth as they came from behind twice to draw 2-2 against Crystal Palace at the Vitality Stadium.
After a goalless first half, Crystal Palace took the lead just two minutes into the second half as Luka Milivojevic whipped a wonderful free-kick into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Bournemouth struck back through Lys Mousset's effort, before Wilfried Zaha restored Palace's one-goal advantage with a moment of individual brilliance.
However, just as they did last week against Watford, Bournemouth rescued a point in the final stages as King prodded in from close range from a corner to leave Palace ruing more dropped points.
Bournemouth started brightly and should have taken the lead inside the opening minute through Callum Wilson. Charlie Daniels' searching ball from the left somehow evaded Mamadou Sakho to go through to Wilson, but the striker, perhaps expecting the Frenchman to intercept, was slow to react and bobbled his shot wide.
Both sides were wasteful in the first half but it was a different story in the second. Just two minutes after half-time, Palace took the lead thanks to a stunning free-kick from Milivojevic on the edge of the box, after Jermain Defoe had been penalised for a foul on Yohan Cabaye.
Shortly after, the visitors had a great chance to double their lead as Zaha released Patrick Van Aanholt clean through on goal, but the Dutchman was foiled by Asmir Begovic. It was a costly miss, as with 65 minutes played, Bournemouth equalised through the substitute Mousset who found the bottom corner with a precise finish from the edge of the box.
Palace went ahead again 10 minutes later thanks to a brilliant individual goal from Zaha. Up until that point, the Eagles' talisman had endured a frustrating afternoon, but he produced the goods when it mattered, pirouetting brilliantly away from Fraser's sliding challenge before lashing a left-footed strike past Begovic.
Bournemouth's goalkeeper made a wonderful reaction save to prevent a deflected Andros Townsend strike nestling in the top corner, and that proved to be a decisive moment as Bournemouth grabbed a second equaliser soon afterwards.
Centre-back Nathan Ake popped up on the left wing and saw his cross towards Defoe turned away by Sakho for a corner. However, from the resulting set-piece, Bournemouth equalised with Steve Cook nodding the cross towards the back post where King, another substitute, was lurking and he made no mistake from a couple of yards out.
The result means that Bournemouth inched closer to the 40-point mark, while Palace are still hovering just outside the relegation zone with three points separating them from Southampton who have two games in hand.
A candidate for man of the match virtually every week, Luka Milivojevic delivered another excellent performance in Crystal Palace's engine room alongside the similarly impressive Yohan Cabaye.
Milivojevic completed more passes (66) than any other player on the pitch and had the second-highest number of touches with 77, highlighting how involved and influential he was throughout.
The Serbian capped his display with an exceptional free-kick, making him the first Crystal Palace midfielder to reach ten league goals in a season.
Bournemouth travel to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Premier League next Saturday, before hosting Manchester United the following Wednesday.
Crystal Palace host rivals Brighton and Hove Albion at Selhurst Park next Saturday.
