Barnsley 0-1 Bournemouth: Cherries pick up valuable win at bottom club
- Published
- comments
Philip Billing joined Bournemouth from Huddersfield Town in the summer of 2019
Promotion-chasing Bournemouth put back-to-back Championship defeats behind them as Philip Billing's goal gave them victory at bottom club Barnsley.
Billing headed home Dominic Solanke's cross after goalkeeper Brad Collins had been caught out of position and should have doubled the lead before half-time when he shot over from close range following good work on the left by Ryan Christie.
Barnsley, whose head coach Poya Asbaghi was again absent because of illness, threatened either side of the break as Mark Travers saved well from Callum Styles and Devante Cole.
The Tykes had only scored eight goals in 12 previous home league games and drew a blank in front of their own fans for the seventh time in the league this season despite a determined second-half effort as Bournemouth held on for the three points despite the late dismissal of Gary Cahill for a poor challenge on Cole.
They remain third in the table, but only one point behind Blackburn in the race for an automatic promotion spot, while Barnsley stay rooted to the bottom, still eight points from safety.
With a depleted squad and no signings made so far in the transfer window, Barnsley gave first league starts to Remy Vita and Matty Wolfe, but they had to rely on scraps of possession in the first half as Scott Parker's Cherries thrived against an inexperienced midfield.
It took almost half an hour for the home side to call Travers into action for the first time, the keeper pushing away Aaron Leya Iseka's shot, and Solanke was only just too high with a header as Bournemouth sought to extend the lead provided by Billing.
Jefferson Lerma and Cahill tested Collins with second-half headers, while the Tykes sent on 18-year-old Aiden Marsh from their youthful bench for his debut in place of Wolfe and he almost made it an afternoon to remember with a left-foot effort from outside the box which was kept out by Travers.
He also had to save from Michael Helik and Styles as Barnsley mounted a strong finish to try and avoid a fourth successive league defeat.
But even with the Cherries down to 10 men after Cahill's first red card since August 2017, it was in vain and they have now gone 11 Championship games without a win. With just two days left to add reinforcements, the prospect of League One football next season looks increasingly likely.
Barnsley assistant coach Ferran Sibila told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"We didn't deserve the loss today, the players stuck to our game plan in a good way.
"Bournemouth are a really good team in build-up, and in transition, and when there are vacant spaces.
"The plan in the first half was to be compact, so they couldn't find the spaces between us, and then grow into the game and be more aggressive.
"Second half, we were really close to where we want to be in terms of creating chances and making it uncomfortable for opponents - we had four chances in the second half, but we couldn't get the goal."
Bournemouth boss Scott Parker told BBC Radio Solent:
"It's an important three points, that's what today was all about. We wanted to win the game, to perform in the right way, and I felt we did that.
"They were difficult conditions, I'm not sure the pitch has been cut for some time. It was very bobbly and the grass was very long, not that I would have been here using that as an excuse had the result gone the other way.
"We had bits of quality, we managed to get our nose in front - they had their moments, but it was a good three points.
"We got ourselves in some very good positions and we just didn't manage to get the second - this team is a two-goal ahead from it being four or five."
Transfer Gossip Daily: What are the biggest rumours as deadline day approaches?
Want to book holiday this year? Here are some do's and don'ts of booking your trip abroad
