Bournemouth vs Huddersfield Town. Sky Bet Championship.
Vitality StadiumAttendance9,253.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Bournemouth and Huddersfield at the Vitality Stadium as Dominic Solanke scored twice and Lloyd Kelly added a third for the Cherries on Saturday.
Saturday 23 October 2021 18:23, UK
Dominic Solanke grabbed a double as unbeaten Bournemouth cruised to a 3-0 victory over Huddersfield to equal the club's best start to a league season.
Striker Solanke's first-half goals took his tally to 11 for the season, before defender Lloyd Kelly added a third in the second half to keep the Cherries in control at the top of the Sky Bet Championship.
Bournemouth are now unbeaten in their first 14 matches this season, a statistic only matched by the 1961-62 side in the Old Third Division - with Liverpool the only other side in the top four English tiers yet to lose.
Both teams warmed up with messages printed on their T-shirts in support of Cherries winger David Brooks, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma last week.
The crowd then erupted in a minute's chanting for the Wales international which ended seconds before Ollie Turton clumsily tripped Solanke to gift the hosts a penalty.
Solanke picked himself up, and after a slow run-up, sent Lee Nicholls the wrong way in the ninth minute.
It was Solanke's ninth Championship strike of the season and ended Nicholls' three-match clean sheet run.
Former Huddersfield midfielder Phillip Billing was booed by the away fans before lofting a cross into the box for Solanke to skid a header wide.
The pair then combined again in the 21st minute to double Bournemouth's advantage.
Ryan Christie bent in a delicious cross from the right, which Billing cushioned to Solanke, who chested down before rifling home.
Gary Cahill tried his luck from 30 yards and Jaidon Anthony curled over for the Cherries, while Fraizer Campbell ended the half by shooting into the stands - the visitors only having one first-half touch in the Bournemouth box.
Nicholls was forced into a smart stop to deny Christie after the restart, before Campbell saw a shot blocked on the edge of the area after a strong press at the other end.
Solanke almost grabbed his treble after a blistering counter-attack between Anthony and Billing saw the slide strike deflect out the ground.
But from the resulting 64th-minute corner captain Kelly met Christie's centre to acrobatically divert in his second Bournemouth goal.
Huddersfield briefly thought they had pulled a goal back but after Travers had tipped Josh Koroma's rasping strike onto the bar, Danny Ward was offside before he bundled in the rebound.
Morgan Rogers had an effort cleared off the line moments after coming on before fellow sub Junior Stanislas blazed the follow-up wide as Bournemouth cruised to another three points.
Bournemouth's Scott Parker: "I thought we were perfect in the first half. We executed the game plan in terms of what we wanted to be today against a side who are defensively very good. The first half ranks up there [as the best performance of the season] in terms of our all-round game. With the ball we understood the game and what we needed to do, and put the ball in the areas we needed to do. We worked this week on having a lot of the ball but we want to score goals and win games.
"I was very pleased how we risked the ball and then defensively I was very pleased with how we locked down any counter-threat. The first goal epitomised the risk of running off the back three and the good moments of the front three and the same happened with the second goal. We were everything I wanted us to be. With the ball we locked down any threat they imposed on us and suffocated them. The first half felt like a constant barrage from us, because of our positioning and how well we did in those moments."
Huddersfield's Carlos Corberan: "In these types of games you need 90 minutes to win but in a few minutes you can lose. That is what happened today. The first two opportunities they had, they scored two goals. It made everything more challenging and more complicated. It was important to manage the game afterwards and create some opportunities and try and open the game and then they scored a third in the second half.
"They were much better than us in their options to unbalance us. We weren't aggressive enough and the one goal changed the dynamic of the game. It is true, Bournemouth are in a good position in the table but they are still in our league. It is important that we compete against every opponent and I am the first to admit we need to improve."
