Jefferson Lerma scored a brace to help Bournemouth produce one of the important football results of the weekend in the Premier League. The Cherries went ahead thanks to a four-minute double from Jefferson Lerma, the second of which was made possible by an egregious mistake from Illan Meslier. However, Leeds, who had the better of the opening exchanges, equalized when Patrick Bamford headed in a cross from Willy Gnonto. After the break, the Whites showed little sign of meaningful attacking intent, and they were helpless to react when Dominic Solanke rolled a shot in off the left-hand post with just over an hour left. In stoppage time, Antoine Semenyo netted a historic fourth goal after his moderate attempt eluded Meslier’s hands.
Leeds knew that a victory on the south coast would significantly improve their chances of surviving, and they almost got off to the perfect start when Matias Vina handled Bamford’s ball into the area and referee Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot. However, a VAR review determined that the contact had occurred outside of the penalty area, and Neto did a good job of stopping Marc Roca’s ensuing free kick. Leeds placed pressure on Bournemouth, but after 20 minutes, they took the lead when Lerma kept his composure to curl a beautiful strike past Meslier after Liam Cooper had stopped Philip Billing’s attempt but instead turned it right into the Colombian’s path.
It was two minutes later. Ryan Christie drifted into a corner from the right, Meslier flubbed at it, and Lerma was there to seize the opportunity and shoot high into the net. Leeds lost their wind, and for the following ten or so minutes, they were unable to manage a single shot. However, shortly after the half-hour mark, they cut the deficit in half when Willy Gnonto, who hadn’t played since March 18, sent a cross over to Patrick Bamford on the right. Bamford made up for his glaring error against Leicester five days prior by heading home to cut the deficit in half.
But with just over an hour gone, Bournemouth restored their two-goal lead. Dango Outtara, after tracking down a long ball, fired a low, optimistic cross into the box, which Leeds failed to clear, allowing Solanke to slip in and finish neatly inside the left post. The traveling supporters’ outraged “sack the board” cries were elicited by that goal, but Leeds appeared to be temporarily inspired. Before Neto made a stunning double save to stop Robin Koch and then Gnonto, Marc Roca pricked his hands. But it was only a false dawn.
Semenyo received a pass from Jaidon Anthony and shot between Meslier’s hands and across the goal line as punishment for Leeds’ inability to capitalize on the opportunities they were given at times. Midway through the first half, the Colombian’s goals—his first-ever Premier League double—turned the game in Bournemouth’s favor. He generated one opportunity, made one shot that was on target, and completed 80 percent of his 50 passes.
“On Thursday (against Southampton), I questioned them a lot. We hyped up Thursday’s game to be massive, but due to the way it was played and the amount of physical and mental effort required, it had a little of the feel of a championship game,” Bournemouth head coach Gary O’Neil said. “Although I reminded them that we don’t accept any drop in our level today, for whatever reason, I was concerned about energy levels and how we might start. We established a target for ourselves in August, and if you’re motivated enough, you may achieve it at the conclusion of this game. Get started on it right now. Today, the goal had every boy’s undivided attention.”
“Of course, it is challenging to compete successfully and obtain the outcomes we require if we admit the errors we are admitting,” Leeds boss Javi Gracia said. “We must defend and attack with greater consistency and aggression. It will be challenging for us to gain the necessary points if we don’t accomplish it. I don’t want to talk much about our standing in the standings, but right now we are not in danger of being demoted, and we still have some challenging games ahead of us that we must be prepared for.”
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