Bournemouth vs Swansea City. Premier League.
Vitality StadiumAttendance11,240.
Sunday 19 March 2017 19:26, UK
Bournemouth significantly boosted their Premier League survival hopes with a 2-0 win over relegation rivals Swansea City on Saturday.
Benik Afobe was Bournemouth's match-winner as it was his off-target effort that took a big deflection off Alfie Mawson and into the net on 31 minutes before the striker wrapped up the points with a neat finish in the second half.
Despite having more of the possession, Swansea only mustered one shot on target during the 90 minutes as they lacked a cutting edge in the final third.
Back-to-back wins have lifted the Cherries nine points away from the drop zone while Swansea, who have lost their last four away games, remain just three points above safety.
Fernando Llorente passed a late fitness test to lead the line for Swansea, who made three changes from the 2-1 defeat at Hull - but they lacked spark in their approach play to the Spanish striker.
Gylfi Sigurdsson did latch onto a Llorente knockdown on 13 minutes but spooned an effort over the crossbar.
Bournemouth were struggling to find their passing rhythm, but managed to open up Swansea on 31 minutes, which proved a big turning point in the game as they grabbed the opening goal.
Leroy Fer was playing as a makeshift full-back for Swansea and his positional awareness was caught out as Marc Pugh released Afobe in a huge gap in behind. He took on the shot on from 20 yards, which was going wide of the post before Mawson's unfortunate intervention took it past Lukas Fabianski.
Sigurdsson stung the fingertips of Artur Boruc from 35 yards five minutes later but clear cut chances were few and far between.
Ryan Fraser and Dan Gosling both tested Fabianski from distance after the break as Bournemouth started to stamp their authority on the Swansea midfield.
It looked as though the direct approach was the only way to really put the Cherries under pressure. A long ball into Llorente at the back post was headed across goal and only a brilliant intervention from Steve Cook denied Wayne Routledge a tap in. That proved to be a key moment in the match as 60 seconds later Afobe put his team in front.
Josh King found space in the pocket and threaded a lovely ball in behind a static Mawson for Afobe to stride through and finish into the far corner.
Swansea had no answer and are slipping back towards deep trouble.
Player Ratings
Bournemouth: Boruc (6), Smith (6), Francis (7), Cook (7), Daniels (6), Fraser (6), Surman (6), Gosling (6), Pugh (6), King (6), Afobe (8).
Subs: Wilshere (6), Gradel (N/A), Ibe (N/A)
Swansea: Fabianski (7), Fernandez (5), Mawson (4), Kingsley (5), Cork (6), Ki (5), Fer (5), Sigurdsson (6), Ayew (5), Llorente (6).
Subs: Narsingh (6), Routledge (6), Borja (6)
Man of the match: Benik Afobe
