English Premier League - Game 1 - Bournemouth (Away)
Ramirez certainly earned the right to start our first Premier League match, and hopefully his fine start to the season continues here.
It didn’t take long - in the 8th minute he was heavily involved in the buildup to Cedric’s excellent cross, which Pelle finished with aplomb!
5 minutes later a gorgeous pass from the Uruguayan sent Tadic through, but Boruc made a fingertip save to deny the Serbian.
In the 16th minute Pugh should have made us pay for some slack defending but he took a fraction too long to shoot, and Stekelenburg was able to save.
In the 20th minute Tadic doubled our lead with a sensational strike after being teed up by Mane. Straight across the keeper and into the roof of the net.
Murray hit the bar with a header from about two yards out in the 35th minute.
In the 57th minute Ramirez was replaced by Davis, and we switched to a 4-3-3.
Juanmi replaced Tadic in the 66th minute.
Three minutes later, Stekelenburg parried a point blank volley from Wilson.
Caulker replaced Fonte in the 74th.
Virgil was unlucky to see his 82nd minute header from a corner crash off the far post.
Pelle was denied from close range by a great block in the 86th minute.
An unbelievable 60 or 70 yard run from Juanmi in the 92nd minute took him into the opposition box, where he squared for Pelle, who rifled into the bottom corner! Absolute brilliance from the young Spaniard!
A comfortable win in the end, and I am delighted with how clinical we were. It is a little worrying how many chances Bournemouth created though, and a look at the post match stats showed that the scoreline was somewhat flattering, and on a different day could have been reversed. Still, the last game and a half have been very positive on the whole - I must admit I was quite worried when we trailed 1-0 at home to Zylina at the break!
POM: Cedric (9.0, 0G, 1A)
Great to see Gaston getting some game time! has the potential to be a class act if you have the patience. KIU.