Burton 2-0 Bournemouth: Floodlights go out three times as Brewers claim upset

Oliver Sarkic scoresImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Sarkic scored his first goal for Burton having joined the club from Leeds this summer

Last season's surprise semi-finalists Burton claimed another big scalp in the Carabao Cup as they beat Bournemouth to reach round four in a game stopped three times for floodlight failure.

The Brewers were deserved winners, given to them by fine finishes from Oliver Sarkic and Nathan Broadhead.

Bournemouth made 10 changes and it showed in a limp, ineffectual display.

Their attempt to find momentum was not helped by delays for the failed lights, leading to 28 added minutes.

Referee John Busby even called a halt to proceedings after the third failure, only to be told by the Football League a match can only be called off if there is a total delay of at least 30 minutes.

Play resumed and in the final added minute, the Cherries struck the post through Chris Mepham's header, but Burton were not to be denied their place in the fourth round and another home tie with a Premier League side, this time Leicester.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Fans attempted to lend a hand when the floodlights failed at the Pirelli Stadium

"I've never experienced anything like that, not going 'on off, on off' for floodlight failures. But it was a problem no one could control," said Clough.

"I'm just delighted to get the game finished, and Bournemouth were desperate to get it on as well. They didn't want to come back in a couple of weeks' time.

"But initially we got conflicting messages. It was the Football League who said you have to give it 30 minutes in total for outages.

"No matter how many times you stop, if it's not 30 minutes... and we were still within that, and that's why we went back out that final time."

Burton's journey to the last four last season saw them beat Premier League Burnley before reality struck in the shape of a 9-0 aggregate defeat to eventual winners Manchester City.

Nigel Clough's side have had an inconsistent start to the league season, winning three, drawing three and losing three of their nine games to date.

But they played above themselves on Wednesday, relinquishing the larger share of possession to their top-flight opponent (33%-67%) but registering the greater number of efforts on goal - 16 to the visitors seven.

And they produced the game's two clinical moments in Sarkic's neat strike at the back post following Reece Hutchinson's cross and a sliding finish from Broadhead to seal the win shortly after the third break in play for the lights.

The result sours Bournemouth's memories of the Pirelli Stadium, which was the setting when they sealed promotion from League Two near the end of the 2009-10 season and began their rise through the divisions to the Premier League.

But they can have no complaints.

Striker Dominic Solanke was the only the man to keep his place from last Friday's 3-1 win at Southampton, but the men coming into the side did little to advance their cause for a regular start, including midfielders Ryan Fraser and Jordon Ibe.

Bournemouth sent on Harry Wilson and Callum Wilson in the second half - two of the men who have helped them to such a promising start in this season's Premier League - but they were unable to influence the game in a positive way for the visitors.

"What happened was a new one for me but we're not using it as an excuse for the performance we put in, which was well short of where we can be and where we know we should be, and we're very disappointed," said Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe.

"It was a strange situation, I've never been involved in anything like that before, but all credit to Burton because they deserved to win.

"It's an opportunity missed, though. We're kicking ourselves tonight because we know we're a lot better than that. The team was full of talented players but it didn't really show in the match."

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