Written by Matt Stevenson
Here is the xG from the Arsenal game, where AFCB again put in a good display but got no points. The first chance was a glorious one, where Gabriel inexplicably passed to Evanilson with Raya stranded, allowing Evanilson to pass into an unguarded net (3 in 4). Arsenal were level 6 minutes later, though, Madueke going past Semenyo and Truffert far too easily and after Martinelli’s shot was well blocked by Scott (1 in 5), the ball fell for Gabriel to smash home (1 in 6). That was it for Arsenal attempts in the first half whereas AFCB had some minor chances, the best two falling to Tavernier, the first a header that was glanced wide in the 22nd minute (1 in 9) and the second in the 30th minute where he tried a flick with the outside of his left, when he maybe should have gone with his right (1 in 9). At half time, the xG was AFCB 1.14 Arsenal 0.49. The second half was cagier, although Arsenal went ahead with their first attempt in over 35 minutes. It was a direct goal, two long balls from defence, one headed out, then Martinelli beat Hill in the air to flick onto Gykores, who was the wrong side of Senesi, although he poked the ball away, but Odegaard found Rice, who passed through a crowd scene into the net (1 in 10). In the 70th minute, Rice scored again, this time the creator was Saka (who’d come on as a sub). 2 defenders and Petrovic were drawn to the ball, meaning Rice had a fairly easy task when meeting the pull-back (43%). AFCB got some hope when Kroupi, who had just come on fired in from long range (1 in 40), but there were no real chances, although unbelievably the referee blew the full time whistle as Semenyo was about to swing over a cross, fifteen (yes, fifteen) seconds after minimum time and with AFCB having 8 men in the box and with Tavernier in the D. I just cannot fathom this decision. At the final whistle, the xG was AFCB 1.43 Arsenal 1.13, with Understat reversing the advantage with AFCB 0.95 Arsenal 1.28).
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Man of the Match against Arsenal
Hill
Hill
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Evanilson
Evanilson
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Jimenez
Jimenez
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Scott
Scott
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Kroupi
Kroupi
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Cook
Cook
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Someone else
Someone else
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There were no changes from the Chelsea game. The first sub was in the 67th minute, at 2-1 down, when Adli (21) replaced Brooks (7). Shortly after going 3-1 down, we made a triple change with Kluivert (19), Evanilson (9) and Scott (8) being replaced with Cook (4), Kroupi (22) and Unal (26). Cook for Scott was a direct replacement, but from the TV, I was less sure how Unal and Kroupi were working together, although the average position shows that Kroupi appeared to be deeper, potentially in a CAM role. The average positions are misleading, as we certainly played with width, but the wingers often switched sides.
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Senesi attempted most passes with 65, Tavernier attempted most passes in the opposition’s half (25) and in the final third with 9. We averaged 77% pass completion, with Hill and Kluivert of the starting 11 having 85% or more.
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AFCB attempted 22 crosses, being successful 4 times (2 from Kluivert, 1 from Hill and Truffert).
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AFCB created 9 chances (0 big). Arsenal created 10 chances, 1 big. Kluivert created three chances.
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We had 15 attempts (1 big), noting that chances can be provided after saves, deflections or a defensive error and not created. We hit the target 3 times. Arsenal had 12 attempts, 2 serious and hit the target 5 times. Tavernier had 4 attempts; Evanilson had the big chance.
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The Opta expected goals had Evanilson as most likely to score (0.76), followed by Tavernier (0.36) and Brooks (0.11). For expected assists, Kluivert was top with 0.17, followed by Senesi (0.08) and Hill with 0.07.
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AFCB won 15 of 35 aerial duals. Hill won 5 from 6 and Scott 3 from 3.
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AFCB won 12 of 16 tackles. Jiminez won 3 from 4.
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Hill made most defensive actions with 16. He made the most interceptions (2). Petrovic made the most recoveries (9). Hill made the most clearances (11), and 4 players made a block.
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The foul count was AFCB 13, Arsenal 8. Adli made 4 fouls in less than 30 minutes, with Evanilson and Scott being fouled 2 times each.
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DJ
I have been a writer and website administrator on the largest AFC Bournemouth fan website for almost 25 years. Previously on a now defunct fan network and since 2005 on vitalfootball.co.uk We have been nominated for various fan website awards down the years, however we have always been the bridesmaid…