An 87th minute penalty from substitute Junior Stanislas gave AFC Bournemouth a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace at the Vitality Stadium on Monday.
The win, Bournemouth’s fourth in seven games, moves Eddie Howe’s team to seventh place, just 2 points behind Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.
David Brooks put the Cherries ahead in the fifth minute with an excellent left-foot finish after smart work from Callum Wilson.
Photo: Reuters
Bournemouth dominated the first half, moving the ball well at speed while Palace struggled to get a foothold, but Roy Hodgson’s side were a different proposition after the break.
Palace got back on level terms in the 55th minute with a thundering drive from Patrick van Aanholt, the Dutch wing-back blasting home after being fed by Wilfried Zaha.
However, the Londoners needed two big saves from goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey to hold off Bournemouth — the Welsh international goalkeeper keeping out a shot from Wilson and then diving to push away a header from Dan Gosling.
However, 3 minutes from the end, referee Mike Dean spotted Palace defender Mamadou Sakho throw out at an arm and elbow into the face of Jefferson Lerma and awarded a penalty that Stanislas slotted home for the 3 points.
“It was a difficult second half. Palace played well and we took a while to get into our stride. When we did, we had some great chances and it was a great win,” Howe said, adding that his team had their “feet on the ground” despite a lofty league position.
Former England manager Hodgson felt that his side were unlucky not to get a draw.
“We played well, so it’s disappointing to end up on the losing side for that penalty we gave away. It was errors on our part and we paid a price for it,” he said.
“I thought we had done enough in the second half to get back into the game and get at least a point out of it,” said the Palace manager, whose team have seven points from seven games and are 13th in the table.
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