Bournemouth made a remarkable recovery in the second half thanks to Antoine Semenyo, preventing Luton from moving out of the relegation zone. This comes three months after Tom Lockyer experienced a cardiac arrest during the initial match.
The Luton team captain had a heartfelt experience during the game. He was welcomed by both fan groups before the match, as he had previously collapsed on the field in December and was declared “technically dead” for two minutes and 40 seconds. Despite scoring three goals from Tahith Chong, Chiedozie Ogbene, and Ross Barkley and appearing to have a solid win, the captain had to watch as his team eventually lost their lead and ended up tying with Nottingham Forest on goal difference.
However, despite being heavily criticized by the audience during half-time, Andoni Iraola’s team made a remarkable comeback with goals from Dominic Solanke, Illya Zabarnyi, and Semenyo within a span of 14 minutes to equalize Luton’s advantage. In the end, Semenyo scored again with seven minutes left on the clock, turning the match into a nightmare for Rob Edwards.
“We made a few mistakes as individuals, and the early goal gave them motivation,” expressed the distraught Luton manager. His team will be playing against Forest at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, and this game has now become even more crucial. “We had the opportunity to win, so we are all feeling frustrated and upset. However, we have no other choice but to move on and regroup quickly.”
Both clubs showed strong solidarity at the Vitality Stadium, 88 days after Lockyer’s heart attack. The Bournemouth Supporters’ Trust raised over £2,000 to assist Luton fans with their travel expenses. Prior to the game, the Luton captain greeted and shook hands with the medical team who played a crucial role in saving his life on the field. Both sets of supporters gave him a standing ovation.
Luton, who broke a five-game losing streak with a last-minute goal against Crystal Palace on Saturday, had been falling behind early in their past three matches due to slow starts. However, in this game, they were able to avoid that mistake as Chong finished off a swift counterattack by heading in Jordan Clark’s lofted cross in just the ninth minute. In fact, Luton have scored 14 goals from headers this season, second only to Arsenal.
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The last time Bournemouth won at this Premier League location was on Boxing Day when they were playing exceptionally well. They had control of the ball in the first half and had many opportunities to score, but their shots were not accurate. Dango Ouattara missed a shot from a good spot, which happened frequently throughout the game. Reece Burke’s last-minute tackle stopped Semenyo from having a clear chance to score.
However, Luton consistently posed a threat on counter-attacks and this was evident when Chong and Alfie Doughty executed a beautiful give-and-take play. As a result, Ogbene was able to score a goal at the far post from the cross provided by the wing-back, as Ouattara was at fault for losing his mark. Despite Bournemouth dominating possession in Luton’s territory, Kaminski was called into action once again to save a powerful long-range shot from Lewis Cook. The visitor’s attacking efforts were met with resistance from a determined group of white-shirted defenders.
Ouattara made a mistake that led to Luton scoring their third goal right before the end of the first half. Issa Kaboré took the ball from him and ran down the field, passing it to Barkley who scored. The visiting supporters cheered and sang “Town are staying up” while the Bournemouth team received boos as they left the field. Neither team could have predicted what was going to happen next.
Iraola remarked that it was a challenging task to maintain belief, but the players managed to do so. He noted that the team was aware of the need to improve and their resilience was evident in the second half.
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The manager of Bournemouth substituted Alex Scott and Luis Sinisterra, and this decision had an instant impact. Solanke skillfully set up a goal with a backheel pass through the legs of Daiki Hashioka, and then scored by curling the ball past Kaminski. Chong also scored a goal for Bournemouth, but it was disallowed due to being offside.
In the 59th minute, there was a round of applause for Lockyer as the first match was called off with both teams tied 1-1. However, Bournemouth’s supporters became more vocal when Zabarnyi scored a second goal, despite Doughty’s desperate effort to clear it from a corner. Soon after, they were ecstatic when Semenyo was able to equalize by scoring near Kaminski’s post, leaving Edwards puzzled.
The guests appeared to have done sufficient to maintain a tie, but Semenyo ultimately had the last word as Bournemouth made history as the fifth Premier League team to secure a victory after being down by three goals.
Source: theguardian.com
