Read Ben Fisher’s match report here.
Yes, that was enjoyable and I think a reasonable reflection overall. Southampton were excellent for much of the second half, Redmond making a real difference, and Austin should have added to his goal. But Bournemouth still had their moments too and Ake might have won it with the very last action. A reasonable result for both and there shouldn’t be too much local disappointment.
Thanks for your company. Now haste ye here for Manchester City v West Ham with Jacob Steinberg!
Full-time: Bournemouth 1-1 Southampton
A fair result, I think. And a really fun game!
90+4 min: Bournemouth win another corner in added-added-time ... and Ake should score after rising to win a free header. Over it goes!
90+3 min: Nope. What a waste. Ibe’s kick curls out of play before reaching the area.
90+2 min: Now Bertrand concedes a corner at the other end after some good battling from Ibe. Fraser is replaced for it by the more physical Afobe. Can they ... ?
90+1 min: Bertrand subsequently causes hilarity with a foul throw.
90 min: Bertrand fizzes in another of those devilish deliveries but it’s flicked away from Austin. The ball remains alive but Romeu blasts over. This has been a superb half of attacking full-back play from Bertrand and has deserved at least one assist. We have three added minutes to see if that changes.
88 min: Fraser, quiet this half, finds space on the left and cuts back but Hoedt is in for a timely block.
86 min: Ibe nibbles at Boufal, who has had an impressive half, and Saints win a very dangerous free-kick near to that left byline. It’s whipped in with pace but glanced away from danger.
85 min: Another Saints change – Gabbiadini for Davis. That’s a positive one, does Pellegrino scent blood?
83 min: Bournemouth spend a long time trying to work something inside the area but Saints’ defensive shape is good and they hold firm. Wouldn’t rule out a late winner for someone ...
81 min: Austin should score! Bertrand whips an absolutely sensational ball over from the byline and Austin, making such a textbook run and leap to the near post, thuds his header over when it should ripple the net! Saints have created so many moments in this half and this one should probably have won them the game.
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80 min: Ibe and Wilson link up and the latter ends up running the ball out of play under Bertrand’s challenge, going down to plaintive cries from the support.
79 min: Not quite as close from Redmond as the “ooohs”, let alone Begovic’s dive, suggest but he drills one reasonably close to the target from range. It “stayed hit”.
77 min: Boufal sashays into the box and it takes a couple of Bournemouth players to clear. Lemina is then caught offside. The change has meant Davis moves into Tadic’s position.
76 min: Lemina’s first contribution, a tug back on Cook, earns a booking.
75 min: Now Bournemouth do attack and King comes close! He controls and turns really smartly, fires in a shot that Forster parries, and perhaps the Saints are lucky to see the ball subsequently ping off Wilson and well wide.
74 min: That last corner wasn’t quite as harmless as it seemed – replays show King pulled Hoedt’s shirt and that, my friends, should be a penalty. One apiece now, you might say. Lemina replaces Tadic, in the meantime.
73 min: It’s a good 15 minutes since Bournemouth posed any kind of threat. Will those subs change that? They have been on the rack but that’s been the way of this game – both sides having periods of being well on top.
71 min: Boufal is the latest to have a go, his shot deflecting not too far over. A corner is the result. Howe puffs out his cheeks. The corner from Redmond, a poor one that is easily caught, lets him relax a tiny bit.
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70 min: Austin hits the bar! But no, the flag’s up anyway, Austin was rightly called offside after Van Dijk won the first header from a free-kick.
69 min: And they continue to look dangerous. Redmond volley across the box and it’s not far behind Austin – the ball was probably a little too quick. They are playing at a heck of a tempo. And Bournemouth react with two changes that, really, need making – Wilson on for Defoe and Ibe on for Stanislas.
67 min: Begovic claims a Tadic cross but there’s no doubt which way the scales have tipped now. Saints look extremely dangerous.
65 min: A blistering Saints counter should probably end in a goal. It’s a superb, lungbusting run by Bertrand and by the time he reaches the ball Austin is ready for a tap-in inside the six-yard box. But the left-back whips the ball too far ahead of him, when a bit more composure would have laid it on a plate for 2-1!
64 min: Redmond, who is making some very intelligent diagonal runs across the line, isn’t too far from a lofted Boufal ball over the top but Begovic is there first.
63 min: Now it’s anyone’s, this. We can only hope the game stays this open.
Goal! Bournemouth 1-1 Southampton (Austin 61)
It had been coming during an intense spell of pressure. Romeu beat the dithering Cook to the ball, finds Redmond on the right and his low delivery is turned in first-time, and so clinically, by Austin. It’s his third in two starts!
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60 min: A slick give-and-go between Bertrand and Tadic leads to Begovic saving a certain goal from Austin with a great feet-first challenge. Then another Tadic ball flies across goal, and then Francis somehow blocks from Davis near the line! This is a really good game.
57 min: Cook, Surman and Smith all combine well in a move that sets up Stanislas, whose placed effort takes a deflection and is bundled away well by Forster at the near post!
55 min: King loses Romeu with a wonderful turn and drag back for Stanislas. It draws gasps from the crowd and leads to a flummoxed Romeu fouling the recipient, earning a yellow card for his considerable trouble.
52 min: A Redmond cross hits Cook but the appeals for handball are half-hearted. He’s been a lot more positive since that life-affirming chat with Pep.
50 min: Hoedt gives away a silly free-kick on his old nemesis King out on the right. It’s a fine position, this. And Stanislas delivers really well but nobody is attacking the six-yard box and Van Dijk gets it away. Fraser’s follow-up is blocked but the pressure remains on and King ends up drilling a low, angled cross-shot into the ground that evades the sliding King by a matter of inches!
48 min: Quick start from Saints and nearly an equaliser. Redmond finds Boufal, who tricks inside and forces a very smart low stop from Begovic, who sticks out a hand and then manages to gather.
Peeeeep! Saints get us back underway
What have they got?
A Saints half-time sub. Guardiola Pellegrino has brought Redmond on for Ward-Prowse.
@NickAmes82 Hate to be the one to tell you but it's Hoedt, not Houdt!
— Dan Whitford (@shaftoe44) December 3, 2017
Not one that I can pin on the subs.
That Hoedt error came from him messing around on the ball outside his own area. Sometimes you have to get rid. We see so many goals like that now. I get that nice, possession football is a laudable goal and when a team like Man City manages it regularly from front to back then it’s delightful. But my personal view is that it’s getting a bit slavish and is costing a lot of teams more than it gains.
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That half became very entertaining. It took 20 minutes or so but then the chances flowed, both goalkeepers making good saves and Smith claiming what seemed a certain penalty for Bournemouth. Not that it mattered – Fraser opened the scoring after Bournemouth capitalised slickly on a Hoedt error and, although Boufal should have equalised straight afterwards, Howe’s team are just about worth the lead. Back soon! Meanwhile …
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Half-time: Bournemouth 1-0 Southampton
That Fraser goal has tipped the scales as the teams go in for their cuppa/isotonic energy gel.
45 min: But that should be 1-1! Bertrand finds an advanced position on the left, cuts back to a completely unmarked Boufal, and if he gets it on target it’s going to be a goal. He finds row Z!
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44 min: What a time to score the opener there – and I think that, on the basis of the last 20 minutes, Bournemouth deserve it.
Goal! Bournemouth 1-0 Southampton (Fraser 42)
The hosts go ahead! Hoedt will have to take the blame as, pressed by King, he dallies on the ball and is mugged. Now Bournemouth have a man free if they work the move well, and they do – King finds Surman to his left, and he in turn lays off to Fraser, who finishes crisply under the helpless Forster with his right foot!
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39 min: Close to a spectacular opener from Daniels. He sizes up a ball that rolls out towards him, a little to the left and 35 yards out, and smashes the cleanest of first-time efforts a whisker wide of the post. It would have rivalled the goal he put just inside the same frame against Man City.
38 min: Begovic claims very confidently after a Ward-Prowse free-kick darts high into the sky off Francis’s head.
37 min: Smith lashes miles over from close to where he drilled in that almost-assist for Defoe.
@NickAmes82 I think that was a dive. Threw himself over the prone defender. Very good decision.
— Roy Allen (@Roy_Allen) December 3, 2017
We don’t all agree about that penalty shout ...
35 min: Daniels looks to pick out Stanislas but the cross drifts beyond him. Howe applauds. After those first 15 minutes or so Bournemouth have looked a threat.
32 min: And now Saints claim a penalty! Begovic makes a fine save from Austin’s far-post header and Francis appears to block Tadic’s follow-up with his arm. But that would have been very harsh – it was whacked straight at him from no distance. This derby has really hotted up, with chances and controversy at both ends.
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31 min: ... Smith goes down in the box under Boufal’s challenge and is booked for diving by Jon Moss! But Moss is wrong! Boufal clearly caught him, as it seemed in real time and as replays confirm, and Bournemouth should have been awarded a spot kick. We’ll be hearing a lot more about that, I think ...
30 min: A Bournemouth free-kick in a pretty threatening area, about 30 yards out, promises something but Stanislas’s effort is neither here nor there, really, and takes a couple of deflections before Saints clear. The pressure stays on though and Stanislas lets fly again, seeing his blocked shot spin out for a corner from which ...
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28 min: Pied shoots ambitiously wide from 30 yards, but more significant was that seconds previously Austin reached a Boufal cross ahead of Tadic and held it up, when leaving it would have given Tadic at least a half-chance 10 yards out.
26 min: ...which is delivered poorly by Stanislas and lumped away at the near post.
25 min: Van Dijk locates Austin with a lovely diagonal ping but the striker is adjudged to have controlled with his hand. He belts the ball wide of goal angrily. At the other end, Bournemouth corner ...
24 min: Lewis Cook now shows some good initiative, emboldened by the Saints midfield backing off and sending a long-range shot dipping over.
21 min: Encouragement now though! Smith drills in a shot first-time on the right corner of the box, Defoe diverts it instinctively towards goal and Forster, who had been diving the other way, diverts it away absolutely superbly, perhaps with his shoulder! Then he bats away a slightly more regulation Ake header moments later. Still a good stop. From offering nothing, Bournemouth have come close twice in quick succession.
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18 min: Southampton continue to look quicker to the ball and more inventive, albeit without creating anything clear cut beyond what was a good headed chance for Van Dijk. Bournemouth just haven’t come out with any of the verve they’d have wanted.
15 min: And it’s Pied again, getting forward and checking inside after his initial cross is blocked. He stands up a second delivery on his left foot and Tadic, jumping from a standing start, nods it fairly comfortably over Begovic’s bar.
14 min: A spell of possession from Bournemouth sees Fraser look to turn into space on the edge of the area but Pied, who has started well, is in sharply.
12 min: Pied puts his best foot forward on the overlap and wins a corner with a searching cross. Ward-Prowse can really whip these in ... and the outswinger is headed just wide by a towering, leaping Van Dijk!
11 min: Not exactly a rattling tempo here, but Saints remain the more convincing. The early exchanges have, in truth, been reasonably conservative overall.
8 min: Better from the home team with Fraser and Stanislas looking to combine, but they still don’t get into the box.
6 min: Saints have definitely made the better start here, Davis now miscuing an awkward ball on the edge of the area that always looked too ambitious for a shot. The ball has bobbled around the Bournemouth box for longer than they’d want so far and they haven’t launched a sortie of their own.
3 min: Great first attack from the visitors now, Boufal slipping a lovely pass to Tadic at the byline and the Serbian laying a ball across for Austin ... who would convert if Ake wasn’t on hand at the near post with a superb tackle.
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2 min: Not the most breakneck of starts but some high pressing from Saints forces a bit of Bournemouth looseness in possession at the back. Then Ward-Prowse misplaces a pass for Pied and out it goes.
Peeeeeep! Off we go.
The hosts kick off and go right to left on yer telly.
Should have mentioned, by the way – right-back Jeremy Pied will make his first Premier League start under Pellegrino, one of six changes for them. Into the lion’s den for the former Lyon and Nice man ...
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The teams are walking out! It’s a brisk, boisterous atmosphere out there. The key today might be Bournemouth’s early tempo – if they come out fast, they’ll be a real handful. But when they’re flat, they can be quite flat.
In today’s team news, by the way, Lewis Cook is a notable name among six changes to the Bournemouth team – good chance for the England U20 captain to make an impact, it’s only his ninth league start since joining in summer 2016 ...
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Saints fans, what do you think of your team so far this season? The Everton game seemed much-needed, to me. Speaking as an outsider who only covers them on and off it seems to me they don’t really have a *thing* at the moment; do you see an identity developing under Pellegrino? Does that even matter?
Eddie Howe turned 40 on Wednesday. 40! It feels as if he’s been around forever. What a career he has had for one so young. Can Bournemouth give him a slightly late present today?
Oh, please do send your emails and tweets in – about anything loosely pertaining to this game. The addresses should be above.
This afternoon's teams
Bournemouth: Begovic, Adam Smith, Francis, Ake, Daniels, Stanislas, Lewis Cook, Surman, Fraser, King, Defoe. Subs: Boruc, Steve Cook, Gosling, Pugh, Afobe, Callum Wilson, Ibe.
Southampton: Forster, Pied, van Dijk, Hoedt, Bertrand, Davis, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Tadic, Boufal, Austin. Subs: Yoshida, McCarthy, Lemina, Gabbiadini, Redmond, Hojbjerg, Targett.
Referee: Jon Moss
Preamble
Welcome to El ... Coastico? Yeah, El Coastico. Although there are a few who don’t believe this is actually anything of the sort.
For the avoidance of doubt, Bournemouth-Southampton is not a derby
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) December 18, 2016
Look, we do this every year nowadays and let’s agree that it’s a derby but a sort of second-ranking one – like Middlesbrough v Sunderland, say. And this year it’s a pretty important one. Southampton, not quite convincing enough under Mauricio Pellegrino yet despite that big win over Everton last week and a decent showing at Man City, would go into the top half with a win and might be able to start gathering some momentum. They have an excuse to go for it – and besides, does Nathan Redmond really want a post-match ear warming from Eddie Howe?
Talking of Eddie Howe, he could do with seeing his team bounce back after a good little revival stalled against Swansea and Burnley. They are a pretty healthy four points clear of the drop now – making it seven should erase memories of a slapdash start to the campaign.
Plenty to come on – yes – derby day, then. Stay with us, the teams will be announced shortly ...
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