Written by kirsikka
Some Everton fans see us as a sort of bogey team, but records show that in Premier League matches, Goodison Park was actually Badisson Park for us, having lost six of the eight games we played there. Maybe the Hill Dickinson would be more welcome to a team fielding James Hill and wearing Dickie Dowsett on their chest?
Man of the match against Everton
Hill
Hill
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Adli
Adli
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Truffert
Truffert
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Jimenez
Jimenez
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Someone else
Someone else
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Andoni Iraola made a surprise couple of changes, taking our Kroupi and the in-form Cook and introducing Toth for his full debut, along with Christie. Adams also made the bench, which is looking better and better for options, although still at least one wide player short of ideal for my liking.
Toth started in the 10 role, I think, because it’s the least tactically demanding of the three central roles, and so AI wanted to give him an easier ride as he gets adjusted to the level and speed of the PL.
Right from the start, Everton were in hunting mode. Aggressively pressing us high with speed and numbers, and we struggled to cope with it. In some ways, they were doing a Bournemouth on us, and it was working.
There wasn’t a huge amount of quality in either final third, so winning the scrap was perhaps the best way into the match. It was a battle they were probably winning on balance.
To be fair to both teams, conditions were atrocious with the rain belting down and slips on the swampy surface in regular evidence.
The first big chance came in part due to that. A central free kick some distance out was pinged at goal, and it bounced just in front of Petro off that soggy ground. He fumbled it into the path of a striker chasing a rebound. Luckily for us, his attempt to finish was awful. A huge let-off.
A minute later, Petrovic did make a good save, scrambling across the goal to cut off an angled shot that came in.
Our best chance came from good work by Jiminez, who got it to Toth in the area. He teed it up for Evanilson, but his shot was weak and deflected easily to the keeper.
Then a cheap mistake handed them the lead. Scott tried to shepherd a ball out for a goal kick, but it didn’t have enough on it, so he flicked it to Rayan. He tried to turn his man and dribble clear, but lost the ball, desperately slid to try and win it back and took down his man in the area. He’s a kid, and he’ll learn from that. Let’s leave it at that.
Petrovic couldn’t get near the spot kick. 1-0 down, exactly what you don’t want against a Moyes team. You just know he drills his side relentlessly on defending a 1-0. What else would he do on a Sunday?
From there,e the game drifted through until half time.
The second period began with more attempts at self-inflicted wounds, with Petrovic passing straight to their player. Luckily, a brilliant clearance from Hill saved him.
It was all them as Everton again took us apart at the back, and the ball was put on a plate for the striker until a last-ditch block from Jiminez stopped what was surely a goal.
Obviously disappointed with the reaction to his halftime tweaks, AI brought on Unal and Kroupi for Toth and Evanilson. An attempt to completely change the style of our attack.
When a magician clicks his fingers, wonderful things happen in an instant… and so it was once again.
We patiently worked back and forth across the pitch, prodding and trying to find an opening. It came to Truffert on the left, and he was shown inside. He took the offered space and then clipped in a delicious cross to the far post with his weaker right foot. Rayan came steaming in like a cartoon 1980s forward and buried his header into the back of the net. Straight from the pages of Striker.
A couple of minutes later, a set piece from near the halfway line was sent in high and deep, where it was met by the head of Hill and sent back across the goal. Adlie was rushing in and accepted the gift by nodding it into the empty net.
There was a concern about offside. Replays showed the only player off was Unal, and as he wasn’t involved, all was good. 2-1 to AFCB!
In the space of three minutes,d the game was on its head. Still, at least we didn’t let them get two ahead this time before doing that.
The drama wasn’t over. Rayan picked up the ball in a similar place to where he lost it and gave away the penalty in the first half. This time, he muscled his way past two and then passed inside to Kroupi near the centre circle. He played a gorgeous pass for Adli to run onto, which would have seen him clean through, only for the last man to take him out. There was only one possible outcome.
Everton down to ten men, and the game on its head.
The question now was, would we stick or twist? They needed to commit men forward, which would surely leave gaps, plus we had an extra man to leave them chasing shadows if we played possession.
Honestly? We kind of did neither. Yes, there were a couple of breakaways, but for the most part, it was endless Everton pressure as they pinned us back.
We can take heart from the fact that we held them at bay. It shouldn’t have played out like that, though. We handed them all the initiative and were extremely poor with the ball when we did get hold of it.
Still, hold on, we did for a good victory, a valuable three points and a 100% record at the Hill Dickinson stadium.
Selected Player Watch
—– Toth —–
Busy is a word I’d use for him. Not always on the same wavelength as his teammates, but that will come in time. Some promising signs.
—– Hill —–
His best performance in an AFCB shirt. Bailed his teammates out multiple times. He was the unmoveable rock that the waves of their attacks crashed against time and again. What else could you expect in a stadium that was presumably named (partly) after him?
—– Rayan —–
Players make mistakes. It’s how they react that matters. His head never dropped, and ultimately, he got his reward. We needed someone to come in and replace Semenyo’s goal threat. He’s smashed that out of the park.
—– Adli —–
Not his best night going forward, where I thought he was often ineffective, but can’t fault getting a winning goal away from home. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens when more wingers are fully fit.
—– Truffert —–
One criticism you could make of his season is the way he almost always hits the same curled cross from deep rather than mixing it up. Like hitting the byline to cut it back or drilling it across. He’s lacked assists as a result. Tonight, he found one answer… use his right foot. An absolute peach of an assist. Solid as well.
—– Petrovic —–
After some recent excellent performances, this was back to the earlier season Petro. Shaky on high balls, poor distribution and looked like he had a clanger in him. I think his form before this will save him, but if he looks this unsure next time out, then I suspect we’ll see Mandas in the following match.
AI and Tactics Watch
It was a bold decision to break up what looked to be the flying partnership of Cook and Scott. The results were mixed. Understandably, we didn’t look as fluid, but I still thought we were marginally the better side in the first half. I don’t think Scott looked as effective in the 6 role, but you can see how highly he is rated by the fact that he was the midfielder kept in the side.
We know AI goes all in when chasing a games and tonight was no exception. With us looking a mess at the start of the second period, he acted quickly and with unexpected changes.
You can’t argue with the results as the next ten minutes saw us score two and them have a man sent off. What happened after that, though, will, I think, be the subject of repeated video watches by the team. I’m guessing AI is pretty furious.
We dropped into a low, low block and, despite having an extra man, seemed to panic every time we got possession. Instead of knocking it around, using our numerical advantage, taking the sting out of the game and trying to pick them off, we were just hacking it anyway. Giving it back to them time and time again, and conceding set piece after set piece. Almost begging them to get an equaliser.
We played that last 30 minutes like it was 11v11 against a far superior team, one of which we were terrified, instead of 11v10 against a team around the same level as us (at this point).
It was an object lesson in bad game management. The frustrating part was that Everton were chucking men forward, so we had loads of space to work with if we got the ball to stick and a real chance of a counter-attacking goal. The only real opportunity like that came when Unal chose the wrong pass and also played it poorly.
The simple facts are we’ve gone away from home, gifted them a lead and still shown the character to come back and win. Let’s not overlook that it’s an excellent three points which keeps our unbeaten run going and pushes right into the mix.
It’s possible to appreciate all of that and praise the team for it, but also wonder what the blue broccoli they were doing in that final half hour. I can’t believe it was what AI intended and suspect there will be some training ground work against ten men over the coming days and weeks. My sympathies to the dev squad, who will likely be running their balls off as the ten-man opposition in those scenarios.
The positives still abound. Toth looks like a handy addition. Rayan looks like a beast already. Christie is getting back to full match fitness. Adams was on the bench, so he will be an option as well. If we could get one of Tavs or Gannon Doak available, then I think we’d really be in business in how we approach games and make our subs.
So there we have it. Our league position has us perfectly poised to strike as the run-in really starts to gear up. A fantastic turnaround in form, but to be fair to the team, these are results that we deserved from many of the performances in the winless run.
Now we have ten days or so to rest some weary legs, further integrate the new players, try and get more of the wounded walking again and then kick off an attack on the final stretch. A European charge is still in our hands. Exciting times!
Also, can we have a word for David Moyes, please? I mean, there’s no doubt he’s proved time and again that he’s effective. No argument there.
But…
His team were fighting heroically with ten men to get an equaliser. They just need that final bit of inspiration.
Time is running out. He has one last sub to use. One final card.
He glances at his bench. His eyes settle on Tyler Dibling, the £50m young attacking midfielder who showed such creative promise last season. The kind of skills that might bamboozle tired legs.
His eyes move on and spy a huge lump of a centre back.
Ahh. That’s the answer. Send the big defender up front, hoof it and hope.
Got to be honest, I’m glad that failed for more reasons than it meant an AFCB win.
Your say…
table wrote…
That result just about made the Good Lady’s birthday complete. It’s been great to be back on the Riverside Rocket, I’m hopeful the Good Lady enjoyed it as much as I did : )
Great to see so many of you there, the ones I can remember are Battle Cherry, Bishop, Eriktheviking, Retro Red, Rob with the numbers Tony, his son and Terry down from Glasgow, and Trevor Morgan’s fanclub, I’m sure I’ve forgotten some others. It’s great to “feel the love” you lot appear to have for us. It’s very much appreciated : )
As for the match, a classic it wasn’t, but we’re bringing back the 3 points for the Euro tour totalizer : )
We’re becoming a very good team, with some outstanding players, playing “front foot football”. We weren’t at our best today, but we play better football than Everton. We’re getting some of the results we should have got during our winless run : )
What can be said about Rayan? He’s a 19-year-old with the football intelligence of a 29-year-old: )
So glad we didn’t give Adli away during the window. He’s showing us what he can contribute to the team : )
Petro’s looking better now he’s got some experienced keepers to train with. He’s still young (in keeper’s years) and developing : )
Excellent support from our fans tonight, outsung Everton completely. Couldn’t work out the words for the Adli song, so I busked it and joined in when his name came up : )
Safe travels home, and I hope all of you staying up in Liverpool have a right rollicking time : ) – To join the conversation, please click here.
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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…