Bournemouth slump 1 – 3 to Southampton

Bournemouth started brightly, forcing 3 corers in six minutes. It was one of the corners taken short, that led to their first goal in the 6th minute. Jack Wilshere, on loan from Arsenal, collected a pass from the corner and floated the ball for Nathan Ake to score with a diving header beyond Fraser Forster in goal for Southampton.
Ryan Bertrand equalized for Southampton with a well taken shot from a tight angle after 14 minutes in an entertaining English Premier League match on Sunday. Bertrand had wriggled through the Bournemouth defence before firing a shot with his left foot from the edge of the 18 yard box.
The Saints coached by Claude Puel went ahead 2 – 1 on the 48th minute after a team effort finished off by Jay Rodriguez.
After their second goal, Southampton looked the more threatening side, playing with more cohesion and focus. Bournemouth goalkeeper Artur Boruc denied Jay Rodriguez a brace, stopping the striker’s point blank shot from the right flank. The goalkeeper nonetheless, remained busy as Bournemouth defence appeared to be in disarray, after conceding a second goal so early in the second half.
Five minutes to stoppage time, there was no stopping Rodriguez a second time when he unleashed a fine strike from just outside the eighteen yard box into the top right corner of the Bournemouth net to make it 3 – 1 for Southampton. He had his brace, and even 5 minutes of injury time could not help Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth, as Southampton defence marshalled by Van Dyke stood their ground.
Bournemouth performance was largely lacking in commitment and there was no sense of hunger among the strikers. Midfielder Francis made occasional surges forward but the strikers showed no hunger to meet most of his inviting crosses into the Southampton box. Attacking runs by on-loan Arsenal midfielder, Jack Wilshere, were as well thwarted by Southampton central defenders, making the England international seemingly frustrated.
The away win gives Southampton 3 precious points that catapulted them from 9th position to 7th on the league table. Bournemouth even with the loss still kept their 10th place on the log.