AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth’s 1-0 win against Chelsea on Saturday added another chapter to the list of memorable victories under manager Eddie Howe.
Dan Gosling’s dramatic strike six minutes from time earned the injury-hit Cherries a third triumph at Stamford Bridge and ended a run of five successive defeats in the Premier League.
Here, afcb.co.uk selects five other famous wins which have been masterminded by boss Howe, one in League Two from 2009 and four from the Premier League era.
AFC Bournemouth 3 Wycombe Wanderers 1 – January 2009
Eddie Howe’s reign as permanent manager started with a shock 3-1 victory over League Two leaders Wycombe Wanderers at Dean Court in January 2009.
No fewer than 42 points separated the high-flying Chairboys and second-from-bottom Cherries, who were ten points adrift of safety having been docked 17 for financial reasons.
The clash marked the return of the club’s leading appearance-maker Steve Fletcher, who had re-signed from non-league Crawley Town during the week.
Having suffered four defeats on the bounce, including two as caretaker-boss, the last thing Howe needed to see was Matt Harrold open the scoring for the visitors in the ninth minute.
Loan signing David Button, making his home debut after being drafted in from Tottenham, made a hash of a back-pass and gifted Harrold a tap in to put the Cherries on the back foot.
But the hosts dug deep and reached the break leading 2-1 thanks to Brett Pitman’s stunning free-kick and a header from Jason Pearce.
Southampton loan winger Jake Thomson capped his home debut with a deflected third goal midway through the second half to put the finishing touches to a win which sparked the Greatest Escape.
Cherries: Button, Ward, Cooper, Pearce, Wiggins, Thomson (Goulding, 89), Molesley, Bartley (Partington, 84), Igoe (Garry, 90), Pitman, Fletcher. Unused subs: Connell, Jalal.
Chelsea 0 AFC Bournemouth 1 – December 2015
AFC Bournemouth’s first memorable scalp in the Premier League saw them lower the colours of reigning champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in December 2015.
Howe’s team headed to the capital on the back of a ten-match winless run in all competitions, the sequence including eight games without a victory in the top flight.
They had taken just three points from those eight matches and had suffered back-to-back 5-1 beatings at the hands of Manchester City and Tottenham.
One of those points had come seven days earlier when Junior Stanislas’s dramatic leveller in the eighth minute of stoppage time earned them a 3-3 draw with Everton at Vitality Stadium.
At the time, Chelsea were unbeaten in 43 Premier League games at Stamford Bridge against promoted teams, their last defeat having come in April 2001 when they lost to Charlton.
However, the first league meeting between the clubs since 1989 was settled in favour of the visitors when Glenn Murray came off the bench to score the only goal eight minutes from time.
Murray, who replaced Joshua King, had only been on the pitch for 99 seconds when he headed home from close range after Stanislas’s corner had been directed back towards goal by Steve Cook.
The win lifted the Cherries out of the bottom three and ramped up the pressure on Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho who would leave the club just days later.
Cherries: Boruc, Smith, Francis, Cook, Daniels, Surman, Ritchie, Gosling, Arter, Stanislas, King (Murray, 80). Unused subs: Rantie, Kermorgant, O’Kane, Butcher, Cargill, Allsop.
AFC Bournemouth 2 Manchester United 1 – December 2015
The Cherries followed up their Chelsea victory with another memorable triumph against 20-time champions Manchester United just seven days later.
Midfielder Harry Arter was named in the Cherries starting line-up and played 86 minutes at Vitality Stadium just days after his daughter had died at birth.
While the tragic news had not been made public ahead of kick-off, Arter was understandably emotional when he made way for Eunan O’Kane four minutes from time.
United, under the stewardship of Louis van Gaal, had arrived in Dorset in fourth place and just three points behind leaders Leicester, who would go on to be crowned champions.
The Cherries made a dream start when Junior Stanislas scored direct from a corner inside the opening two minutes, the in-form winger’s third goal in as many games.
United goalkeeper David de Gea lost the flight of the ball in the swirling wind before it dropped into the back of the net, the goal officially timed at one minute and 40 seconds.
De Gea prevented Stanislas from doubling the Cherries lead after the winger had gone through one-on-one, while Artur Boruc made a superb save to deny Marouane Fellaini.
However, the Belgian international restored parity midway through the first half, poking home from close range after Boruc had saved from Memphis Depay.
United old boy Joshua King bagged a memorable winner after 54 minutes, the striker getting on the end of Matt Ritchie’s corner as the Cherries became only the second team to beat Chelsea and Manchester United in successive Premier League games.
Cherries: Boruc, Smith, Francis, Cook, Daniels, Surman, Ritchie, Arter (O’Kane, 86), Gosling, Stanislas, King (Murray, 65). Unused subs: Pugh, Rantie, Kermorgant, Distin, Federici.
AFC Bournemouth 2 Arsenal 1 – January 2018
The Cherries’ first win against Arsenal in January 2018 was also their first victory over one of the so-called ‘big six’ since they had beaten Liverpool in December 2016.
It ended a run of 14 winless games against the Premier League’s big guns, three of which had been drawn, the other 11 all lost, including nine successive defeats.
Eddie Howe’s team went into the game on the back of a worrying run which had seen them win just one of their previous ten matches – against Everton a fortnight earlier.
And just one point separated the Cherries from the bottom three, while the Gunners harboured hopes of finishing in one of the Champions League places.
The Cherries were forced to do it the hard way after Hector Bellerin had given the visitors the lead when he latched on to a defence-splitting Alex Iwobi pass before squeezing the ball past Asmir Begovic.
Callum Wilson drew the hosts level 20 minutes from time when he took advantage of Petr Cech’s indecision and met Ryan Fraser’s cross to chalk up his third goal in four Premier League games.
Wilson then turned provider when he brought down Lewis Cook’s cross before passing to Jordon Ibe to rifle home the winner four minutes later.
It earned Howe’s team a first Premier League victory over Arsenal, at the sixth attempt, with the Cherries going on to finish 12th on 44 points.
The victory was also poignant as it was the last game watched by AFC Bournemouth stalwart and former groundsman John Harriss before he passed away later that evening.
Cherries: Begovic, Francis, S Cook, Ake, A Smith, L Cook, Gosling, Daniels (Mousset, 63), Ibe (Pugh, 86), Fraser, Wilson (Afobe, 90). Unused subs: Surman, Arter, Simpson, Boruc.
AFC Bournemouth 4 Liverpool 3 – December 2016
The Cherries’ epic 4-3 win over Liverpool at Vitality Stadium in December 2016 will go down as one of the greatest comebacks in the club’s history.
Liverpool, then five-time champions of Europe, arrived in Dorset looking for a victory which would make it 12 league games unbeaten and equal their best start to a Premier League season.
And after the Reds had forged 2-0 ahead at half-time and 3-1 in front with 15 minutes to go, Jurgen Klopp’s team appeared on course to take the points back to Merseyside.
But the arrival of Ryan Fraser as a 55th-minute substitute turned the game on its head, the Scotsman playing a key role as Eddie Howe’s team stunned the 18-time English champions.
First-half goals from Sadio Mane and Divock Origi gave Liverpool the interval lead before James Milner felled Fraser for a penalty which Callum Wilson converted to halve the arrears.
Emre Can restored Liverpool’s two-goal lead with a 20-yarder, only for Fraser to net his first Premier League goal 14 minutes from time.
And, just two minutes later, Steve Cook got the hosts back on level terms when he controlled Fraser’s cross, swivelled and volleyed home.
Origi fired over when well placed in the final minute before Nathan Ake pounced on the loose ball to net a dramatic winner deep into added time after Loris Karius had spilled Cook’s shot.
Cherries: Boruc, Francis, Cook, Ake, A Smith, Arter, Gosling (Afobe, 75), King (Ibe, h-t), Wilshere, Stanislas (Fraser, 55), Wilson. Unused subs: Pugh, B Smith, Mings, Federici.
