Bournemouth rue missed penalty as Leeds dent their title ambitions
Guardian 20/1/15
Richard Gibson at Elland Road
The Leeds manager, Neil Redfearn, suggested his club remain “alive and kicking” after an odds-defying performance dented Bournemouth’s promotion bid.
A matter of hours after learning that the owner, Massimo Cellino, had lost his appeal to the Football League and will be forced to quit the board and not resume control at Elland Road until the second week of April, and nine matches since their previous win, the Yorkshire side somehow held on for victory against the league leaders.
Luke Murphy’s splendid first-half goal decided the contest but fortune was required too. Twice Bournemouth struck the woodwork, most significantly four minutes from time when the substitute Yann Kermorgant wasted a contentious penalty awarded by the referee, Oliver Langford, who sent off Giuseppe Bellusci for bringing down the pacy Callum Wilson.
Redfearn was scathing about the decision, claiming the offence took place outside the area, but upbeat about the result in the wake of the latest off-field turmoil.
“I spoke to Massimo yesterday and he basically said that nothing changes. It’s still his football club. Someone else will sign the cheques but it’s business as usual,” Redfearn said. “That performance has proved that the club is alive and kicking.”
In contrast, Bournemouth – attempting to become the 47th club to feature in the Premier League since its inception in 1992 – were unusually off-colour when it came to finishing. But on one of their bogey grounds – this was their seventh successive defeat – their tale of woe incorporated a disallowed goal from Brett Pitman five minutes after Leeds went in front and the striking of an upright late on by Marc Pugh.
“I had a gut feeling at the time that it was a tough call,” Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said of Pitman’s instinctive volley. “There seemed to be a defender between Brett and the goal and if that was the case I will be bitterly disappointed.”
Wilson missed several chances when well placed but his speed carved out the clearest opportunity when he forced both Bellusci and Langford into their late judgments. Kermorgant opted for power but although he beat Marco Silvestri his spot-kick cannoned off the top of the bar.
“The penalty summed up our night in front of goal and it was not like us,” said Howe, whose previous nine away matches had yielded eight wins and a draw.
Relegation-threatened Leeds scored the decisive goal at the zenith of their first-half dominance, when Sam Byram and Rodolph Austin channelled possession from the right touchline across the midfield and Murphy, who struck the equaliser against Birmingham at the weekend, skirted the area before arrowing a left-foot drive into the top corner.
Wilson, Bournemouth’s top scorer, regularly left Leeds defenders trailing in his wake but once in the first half and twice after the interval failed to apply a decisive finish when clear. He also failed to generate sufficient power on a close-range header as the half-time whistle approached, allowing Marco Silvestri to claw the ball down on the goal-line.
However, despite completing an unlikely double over the south-coast club, Redfearn remained confident about their likely destiny. “I don’t think Derby are as good, if I am honest,” Redfearn said. “I don’t think they’ve got as many facets to their game. Derby are good, don’t get me wrong, but they’re the best side we’ve played.”
Richard Gibson at Elland Road
The Leeds manager, Neil Redfearn, suggested his club remain “alive and kicking” after an odds-defying performance dented Bournemouth’s promotion bid.
A matter of hours after learning that the owner, Massimo Cellino, had lost his appeal to the Football League and will be forced to quit the board and not resume control at Elland Road until the second week of April, and nine matches since their previous win, the Yorkshire side somehow held on for victory against the league leaders.
Luke Murphy’s splendid first-half goal decided the contest but fortune was required too. Twice Bournemouth struck the woodwork, most significantly four minutes from time when the substitute Yann Kermorgant wasted a contentious penalty awarded by the referee, Oliver Langford, who sent off Giuseppe Bellusci for bringing down the pacy Callum Wilson.
Redfearn was scathing about the decision, claiming the offence took place outside the area, but upbeat about the result in the wake of the latest off-field turmoil.
“I spoke to Massimo yesterday and he basically said that nothing changes. It’s still his football club. Someone else will sign the cheques but it’s business as usual,” Redfearn said. “That performance has proved that the club is alive and kicking.”
In contrast, Bournemouth – attempting to become the 47th club to feature in the Premier League since its inception in 1992 – were unusually off-colour when it came to finishing. But on one of their bogey grounds – this was their seventh successive defeat – their tale of woe incorporated a disallowed goal from Brett Pitman five minutes after Leeds went in front and the striking of an upright late on by Marc Pugh.
“I had a gut feeling at the time that it was a tough call,” Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said of Pitman’s instinctive volley. “There seemed to be a defender between Brett and the goal and if that was the case I will be bitterly disappointed.”
Wilson missed several chances when well placed but his speed carved out the clearest opportunity when he forced both Bellusci and Langford into their late judgments. Kermorgant opted for power but although he beat Marco Silvestri his spot-kick cannoned off the top of the bar.
“The penalty summed up our night in front of goal and it was not like us,” said Howe, whose previous nine away matches had yielded eight wins and a draw.
Relegation-threatened Leeds scored the decisive goal at the zenith of their first-half dominance, when Sam Byram and Rodolph Austin channelled possession from the right touchline across the midfield and Murphy, who struck the equaliser against Birmingham at the weekend, skirted the area before arrowing a left-foot drive into the top corner.
Wilson, Bournemouth’s top scorer, regularly left Leeds defenders trailing in his wake but once in the first half and twice after the interval failed to apply a decisive finish when clear. He also failed to generate sufficient power on a close-range header as the half-time whistle approached, allowing Marco Silvestri to claw the ball down on the goal-line.
However, despite completing an unlikely double over the south-coast club, Redfearn remained confident about their likely destiny. “I don’t think Derby are as good, if I am honest,” Redfearn said. “I don’t think they’ve got as many facets to their game. Derby are good, don’t get me wrong, but they’re the best side we’ve played.”