The Sunday Times - UK (2021-11-28)

6 November 28, 2021The Sunday Times

Football

Parker’s

injury-hit

side blow

chance to

go top

Bournemouth came tantalisingly

close to securing a victory that would

have sent them to the top of the Sky

Bet Championship despite being

without their entire first-choice

defence and having the stand-in

centre half Jefferson Lerma sent off

after 68 minutes.

The Colombian’s dismissal was the

turning point in a riveting contest

that Bournemouth were dominating

thanks to goals from Jaidon Anthony,

whose wind-assisted cross beat the

Coventry City goalkeeper, Simon

Moore, before the excellent Philip

Billing doubled the lead for the hosts

when he turned in another enticing

Anthony cross.

Everything changed when Lerma

was dismissed for fouling Matt

Godden after he had failed to control

a careless pass from his team-mate

Jack Stacey.

Coventry, for whom Callum

O’Hare was outstanding, spent most

of the remaining time in the

Bournemouth penalty area but were

denied either by desperate last-ditch

defending or impressive goalkeeping

by Mark Travers.

Godden took

advantage of the

pressure building on

the Bournemouth

defence when, in

the 85th minute,

he scored his

seventh goal of the

season.

In the fifth and final

minute of stoppage time

Todd Kane’s floated

cross beat Travers with a

bit of help from Storm

Arwen.

The jubilant Coventry

players sped off to

celebrate with the 1,000-plus visiting

fans.

“I’m devastated for the team

because we were in control,” Scott

Parker, the Bournemouth manager,

said. “With 11 men we dominated but

the sending off changed it a lot.

“For the majority of the game we

were superb but football has a habit

of kicking you right where you don’t

want to get kicked.”

His Coventry counterpart, Mark

Robins, whose side are fifth in the

table, said: “[Bournemouth] are a

brilliant side and sending off was a

turning point but to be where we

are is nothing short of amazing.

What we’ve done is really special.”

Star man Philip Billing (Bournemouth).

Bournemouth (3-5-1-1): M Travers —

C Mepham 6, J Lerma 6, S Cook 6 — J

Stacey 6, L Cook 7, G Kilkenny 7 (Z Ibsen

Rossi 87min), J Anthony 7 (E Marcondes

90+3), R Christie 7 (L Davis 79) —

P Billing 8 — D Solanke 7. Booked

Mepham, Cook. Sent off Lerma.

Coventry City (4-4-2): S Moore 6

— F Dabo 7, K McFadzean 6,

D Hyam 6, I Maatsen 6 (T Walker

90+2) — B Sheaf 6 (J Jones 85),

L Kelly 7, T Kane 7, C O’Hare

8 — J Allen 7 (V Gyokeres

63, 6), M Godden 7.

Booked McFadzean.

Referee D Coote.

P W D L F APts

Fulham 20 13 4 3 49 1643

Bournemouth 20 12 6 2 36 1642

West Brom 20 9 7 4 27 1634

Blackburn 20 9 6 5 34 2733

Coventry 20 9 6 5 27 2333

QPR 19 9 5 5 3124 32

Stoke 20 9 4 7 2421 31

Huddersfield 20 8 4 8 23 23 28

Swansea 20 7 6 7 25 26 27

Millwall 20 6 9 5 20 21 27

Blackpool 20 7 6 7 20 22 27

Middlesbrough 20 7 5 8 23 23 26

Birmingham 20 7 5 8 19 21 26

Luton 20 6 7 7 27 26 25

Nottm Forest 20 6 7 7 2423 25

Preston 20 6 7 7 22 26 25

Sheff Utd 19 6 5 8 23 26 23

Bristol City 19 6 5 8 21 28 23

Hull 20 6 3 11 16 23 21

Cardiff 20 6 3 11 21 34 21

@Reading 20 8 2 10 26 3220

Peterborough 20 4 4 12 17 38 16

Barnsley 20 2 6 12 13 31 12

*Derby 19 4 10 5 16 18 1

*deducted 21pts for going into administration and

breaching financial rules

@ deducted 6pts for breaching financial rules

CHAMPIONSHIP

TABLE

SKY BET

CHAMPIONSHIP

back, and the new Villa manager, on

taking the job, quickly identified the

worldly, versatile 36-year-old as an

ally. Young is like “an outer layer of the

coaching staff ”, Gerrard said after he

had come on and provided the pass

that broke the deadlock against Brigh-

ton. After Young had provided the

assist for the goal that put Villa ahead

yesterday, Young gestured specifically

to the bench.

Young’s excellence delivering a set

piece had served Villa well. His delib-

N

ot too many teams take

maximum points off Patrick

Vieira’s Crystal Palace, still

fewer come away from Sel-

hurst Park this Premier

League season with a win. A

feather in the cap, then, for

the division’s newest per-

manent manager, Steven Gerrard,

whose Aston Villa side inflicted a first

home defeat on Palace. They join

Chelsea and Liverpool as the only

clubs to have beaten Vieira’s team.

Goals from Matt Targett and John

McGinn had put the outcome beyond

argument by the time Marc Guéhi

pulled a late goal back in a contest that

was always combative, as would be

expected of any meeting between

Gerrard and Vieira. Douglas Luiz had

barely joined the robust midfield

duelling as a Villa substitute when he

was shown a red card, to then be

spared when the decision was

reviewed by VAR.

Both managers thought the out-

come correct. Vieira acknowledged

that Palace had fallen short of their

enterprising standards but praised

the organisation of the visitors. “They

were compact and we did not do

enough to stretch them,” the Palace

manager said. “We did not move the

ball quickly enough.”

CRYSTAL PALACE

Guéhi 90+5 1

ASTON VILLA

Targett 15, McGinn 86 2

McGinn gives Gerrard

revolution momentum

Gerrard was thrilled with a “top”

Villa performance. He had made sig-

nificant changes to the team that gave

him a win on his first game as manager

a week before. His starting attack here

was the one that had ended the 2-0

victory against Brighton & Hove

Albion. Reward had been anticipated

for Ashley Young. Leon Bailey was

also promoted, Danny Ings and Emi

Buendía left on the bench.

Gerrard and Young go back a long

way, England colleagues from 15 years

Martinez

7

Konsa

7

Cash

7

Tar g e t t

7

Young

7

Bailey

6

Mings

7

Nakamba

7

Ramsey

7

McGinn

8

Watkins

7

4-3-3

Guaita

7

To m k in s

6

Mitchell

6

Ward

6

Zaha

6

Olise

6

Milivojevic

6

Benteke

6

Guéhi

7

Kouyaté

7

Gallagher

7

4-3-3

Star man John McGinn (Aston Villa).

Substitutes: Crystal Palace E Eze (for

Milivojevic 60, 6), O Édouard (for Zaha 72),

J Ayew (for Olise 90+5). Booked Milivojevic, Ward,

Zaha. Aston Villa D Luiz (for J Ramsey 67, 6),

A El Ghazi (for Bailey 77), E Buendía (for Young

85). Booked Cash, Luiz, Nakamba.

Referee M Salisbury. Attendance 25,203.

Ian Hawkey

At Selhurst Park

Kane celebrates after

his wind-assisted

95th-minute equaliser

Rob Stewart

BOURNEMOUTH

Anthony 45, Billing 66 2

COVENTRY CITY

Godden 85, Kane 90+5 2

Curzon Ashton’s FA

Trophy second-

round tie against

Chester City, which

they won 2-1, had to

be delayed during

the first half because

the referee had to

move his car.

A call came out

over the public

address system 15

minutes into the

contest. The referee

suddenly stopped the

game having realised

that it was his car that

needed to be moved.

He told a steward that

it was his vehicle

before taking the

necessary action,

keeping both sets of

players and 326

supporters to find

ways of keeping

warm.

REFEREE’S CAR STOPS PLAY IN TROPHY TIE