That’s all for tonight. Thanks for your company - I’ll leave you with Ben Fisher’s report. Goodnight!
Stat du jour West Brom won possession in the final third eight times tonight, which was eight more than Bournemouth.
That was a pulsating game between two of the main promotion contenders. Bournemouth led twice, but West Brom played with a mildly terrifying intensity and deserved a draw. There was loads to admire on both sides, not least the performances of 21-year-old Jaidon Anthony for Bournemouth and the new signing Alex Mowatt for West Brom. It was relentlessly entertaining stuff, and a cracking way to start a new season.
Full time: Bournemouth 2-2 West Brom
The Championship’s back, then.
90+4 min Mowatt lifts it into the area towards Kipre, but Zemura comes across and shepherds the ball out of play. That should be that.
90+3 min A foul on the halfway line gives West Brom one last chance to lump the ball into the Bournemouth area.
90+1 min A change for Bournemouth: the teenager Christain Saydee replaces David Brooks, who decorated the game with his usual touches of class.
90 min Mowatt’s corner is cleared desperately at the near post. There will be four minutes of added time.
90 min Zohore forces Zemura into conceding yet another West Brom corner.
87 min A change for West Brom: Karlan Grant off, Kenneth Zohore on.
85 min Livermore is booked for booting Kilkenny up in the air.
82 min Now it’s West Brom’s turn to pin Bournemouth back. Mowatt is fouled on the right wing by Solanke. He takes the free-kick himself, and Bournemouth again struggle to clear. Eventually it’s knocked away to Livermore on the edge of the area. He chests the ball down and then batters it over the bar.
80 min Mowatt is booked for a deliberate foul on Zemura.
78 min: Good save from Button! Bournemouth are really pressing for a winner. Anthony clips a clever first-time pass down the inside-left channel towards Solanke, whose low shot on the run is pushed away to his right by Button.
77 min O’Shea then gets away with a tug on Mepham’s shirt in the West Brom area. That could easily have been a penalty to Bournemouth, albeit a soft one.
75 min Brooks guides a lovely pass into the underlapping Smith, whose cross is put behind for a corner. Brooks fizzes the corner to Billing, 20 yards out, and he drills a fierce shot that is blocked. Moments later, Bournemouth appeal unsuccessfully for a penalty when the falling O’Shea meets the ball with either his head, his hand or both. Even after a replay, I’m not sure what happened there.
74 min Robinson steers a bouncing ball towards Grant on the left of the area. He teases Mepham, moves the ball onto his right foot and drives a fierce shot that flashes just wide of the far post.
72 min This is pulsating stuff. The ferocity of West Brom’s play, with and especially without the ball, is quite something.
71 min Robinson’s superb low cross just evades the stretching Grant at the far post. Had he controlled that, he would have had a great chance to put West Brom ahead.
69 min: Fine save from Button! Bournemouth almost take the lead for the third time. Billing, on the left wing, looks up and drives a long cross towards Brooks beyond the far post. He meets the ball sweetly on the half-volley, and Button plunges to his right to push it round the post. That wasn’t a fine save, it was a brilliant one.
Townsend won the ball 40 yards from goal and West Brom were off again. Mowatt played a quick pass into Phillips, who turned and ran at the defence. Bournemouth backpedalled, allowing Robinson to poke a lovely through pass back towards Mowatt in the inside-left channel. He stretched to guide a low cross towards Robinson, who opened his body to steer the ball into the far corner. So much for long-ball football: that was a gorgeous goal.
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GOAL! Bournemouth 2-2 West Brom (Robinson 66)
Callum Robinson equalises with a superb team goal!
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65 min Phillips has gone up front, with Callum Robinson moving to the right.
64 min The limping Grady Diangana is replaced by Matt Phillips.
63 min Mowatt hammers the free-kick towards the six-yard box. Furlong gets to it first, in front of the near post, but flicks a header over the bar.
62 min Diangana is too tricky for Zemura, who hacks him down just outside the box on the right. He’s pretty lucky not to be booked for that.
59 min Bartley is booked for throwing Emiliano to the floor. A split-second later Grant headed past Travers, so it was a costly foul from Bartley. The whistle had certainly gone before Grant scored, though I’m pretty sure Travers tried to save it.
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59 min “As a Norwich fan I think I can identify with WBA supporters,” says Dan Christmas. “It’s so bizarre having a season where you expect to win every game followed by the exact opposite, ad infinitum. I can’t think of an Olympic sport that correlates with (well, I guess now it’s cycling…). Delay the season!”
58 min Nothing comes of the corner.
57 min Brooks wins a corner for Bournemouth, who are running with the momentum of the goal. This has been a cracking match, a classic Championship ding-dong.
56 min Brooks’ pass is flicked cleverly by Billing into the path of Emiliano, but he overruns the ball on the edge of the area.
55 min Jaidon Anthony, 21, has had a fine game on the left wing for Bournemouth. He got an assist for the goal but his part in the second, a really cute reverse pass, was probably even better.
54 min West Brom come again - of course they do - and there’s yet another game of head tennis in the Bournemouth area. Eventually the ball drops to Robinson, who drags a volley a few yards wide of the far post. That was a decent chance.
The goal was superbly made and coolly finished. Anthony, on the left touchline, played a fine disguised pass to the underlapping Zemura. His cross was pushed away by Button but only to Billing, who calmly slid the ball into the far corner with his right foot. That was a lovely finish.
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GOAL! Bournemouth 2-1 West Brom (Billing 52)
Bournemouth regain the lead with their first attack of the half!
49 min West Brom have been seriously impressive. Watching them reminds of Paul Doyle’s great line about Jack Charlton’s Ireland:
The beauty of a game depends on the beholder. For nearly 10 years Charlton’s Ireland were hard to watch and harrowing to play against, yet they gave unprecedented joy to millions.
Okay, the millions bit might be pushing it, but this West Brom side are going to make a lot of people happy this season.
48 min A West Brom corner causes more chaos in the six-yard box. Travers punches the ball up in the air and then O’Shea’s header is deflected behind.
46 min West Brom again win the ball in the final third. Diangana feeds the ball into the area towards Robinson, whose cross is crucially blocked by Mepham.
46 min Peep peep! West Brom begin the second half, with no changes on either side.
Half-time reading
Half time: Bournemouth 1-1 West Brom
Peep peep! An intriguing, intense first half ends level. The debutant Emiliano scored an early goal for Bournemouth; Dara O’Shea headed a deserved equaliser for West Brom, who - and I say this with love - look a rare old pain in the arse to play against. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
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45+1 min A sliced clearance from Zemura goes to Grant on the edge of the area. He tries to lob the ball over the last man Mepham, who does really well to get back and head the ball away.
45 min Two minutes of added time.
44 min “McMahon is, as per, bang on the money,” says Matt Dony. “Can’t wait for the revolutionary hip-hop-inspired fitba. Slightly surprised by its enormous success in America, though.”
43 min Another game of head tennis ends with Travers making a comfortable save from Bartley’s looping header. Valerien Ismael said he wanted to make West Brom “horrible” to play against; I suspect the Bournemouth players would vouch for what a good job he has done.
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42 min: Good save from Travers! Robinson collects a loose ball 25 yards out, turns and drags a low shot that is pushed round the post by the sprawling Travers.
42 min The corner leads to a game of head tennis in the Bournemouth area. Eventually Robinson’s hooked cross is headed onto the roof of the net by Bartley, running away from goal. It wasn’t much of a chance. But West Brom are all over Bournemouth at the moment.
41 min Townsend’s long throw is headed behind for a corner by Smith (I think).
40 min This is West Brom’s best spell. Robinson’s cutback is booted away - but that allows Townsend to come forward for another long throw...
38 min Don Goodman, the Sky Sports summariser, thinks that was a harsh free-kick against O’Shea. But if you put hands on a goalkeeper at a set piece, you’re asking for trouble.
37 min: Disallowed goal! West Brom win a corner on the right. Mowatt drops it under the bar, and the referee blows for a foul on the keeper just before Robinson turns the ball over the line. O’Shea put both hands into Travers’ back - not with any great force, but enough for a free-kick to be given.
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Forget that, O’Shea isn’t a wing-back! Here’s what happened: Townsend’s long throw from the left was headed back to him by Billing. He swung a high, hanging cross to the far post, where O’Shea got the run on Zemura and thumped a downward header that zipped off the pitch to beat Travers.
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GOAL! Bournemouth 1-1 West Brom (O'Shea 33)
The wing-backs combine to bring West Brom level!
32 min The stretching Diangana just fails to reach Robinson’s header over the Bournemouth defence. No matter, he was offside.
30 min Zemura is spoken to after a late tackle on Diangana. The referee has been excellent so far, and relatively lenient.
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27 min Nothing much to report. Gavin Kilkenny, the young Irishman in front of the Bournemouth back four, has looked good on the ball.
25 min “The Hamilton v Kilmarnock game which Mr and Mrs Dony will be attending in a fortnight (9 min) should be a good early indicator of which one of those teams is best placed for a quick return to the Scottish Premiership,” says Simon McMahon. “A titanic duel awaits.”
22 min West Brom’s press has been really effective, but they haven’t yet done enough with the ball. It’s a good game though, and the intriguing clash of styles that we expected.
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21 min Mepham shoves Grant over near the touchline and is booked. Grant fell into Scott Parker and sent him flying as well.
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20 min Scott Parker made a point of thanking the referee, who played a good advantage in the build-up to the goal. Anthony fed the ball into Solanke, who was fouled by Billing. The referee played the advantage, which allowed Anthony to collect the loose ball and tee up Emiliano.
19 min A long throw from Townsend leads to a game of head tennis in the Bournemouth area. Eventually Kipre volleys over, and that’s the end of that.
16 min Bartley gets an extended telling-off after flattening Emiliano while jumping for a bouncing ball.
14 min “Hello Rob,” says Kári Tulinius. “I’m absolutely not ready for the new season yet. The Olympics are still going on, for crying out loud. I watched the final of the women’s football just today. There should be at least three or four weeks of meaningless friendlies and transfer speculation before a new season st… Oh no, I’m turning into a cranky old man at just forty.”
Don’t worry, life’s a riot once you hit 45.
The goal was made by Jaidon Anthony, who picked up a loose ball on the left of the edge of the area, poked it forward and slid a low cross into the middle. O’Shea was blocked by Solanke, which allowed the ball to run on to Emiliano, and he sidefooted low past Button with his left foot.
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GOAL! Bournemouth 1-0 West Brom (Emiliano 12)
Emiliano Marcondes scores on his debut!
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10 minn Robinson is fouled 30 yards from goal by ... someone I don’t recognise. Mowatt flips the free-kick towards Grant, who heads straight at Travers on the stretch. It wasn’t an easy chance - there was no pace on the ball and it was slightly in front of him.
9 min “Club football’s back, I’m officially on holiday as of 5pm this afternoon, the sun is shining in West Wales, Mrs Dony has managed to get hold of tickets for Hamilton in two weeks, and I have the Lego Friends Apartment to be getting on with,” says Matt Dony, offering a breezy high-five to confused bystanders. “Life is good, Rob. Life is good. Looking forward to a dominant Solanke hat-trick, steamrollering his way through the West Brom defence. Might even pour myself a cheeky Penderyn…”
8 min Diangana beats a couple of players on the right and finds Grant on the edge of the D. He dithers and is dispossessed.
7 min“Hey Rob,” says J.R. “We’re all very excited here in Illinois to see the Throstles kick off their Championship campaign! (By “we” and “all” I mean basically just me. And maybe the one other West Brom fan I know but I haven’t spoken to him in well over a year.)
“On the one hand I’m no longer able to see every Baggies game like I can when they’re in the Premier League. They only show a few each month here. On the other hand I don’t have to watch the games from behind the sofa any longer. It’s a very different feeling to expect to win. But of course the biggest positive: no VAR!!! Yes! Now I can just complain about the referee on the field. (The recipient of eviscerating criticism today, it should be noted, will be Darren Bond.)”
I think/hope/pray VAR will be a lot better this season, as it was during the Euros.
6 min There’s a lovely pace to the game. Solanke plays a one-two with Billing on the edge of the area and drives a low cross that is cleared.
4 min We haven’t seen a replay of that penalty appeal, so I assume there was nothing in it.
3 min Billings is late on Bartley, who goes over and then angrily declines the offer of a hand from Billings.
2 min It’s been an ultra-aggressive start from West Brom, who have already won the ball in the final third on a couple of occasions.
1 min West Brom’s high press brings an early reward, with Diangana picking up the loose ball and winning a corner. It’s driven deep to Bartley, whose volley bounces up and hits the arm of a Bournemouth defender. West Brom appeal unsuccessfully for a penalty. I’d like to see that again.
1 min Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Bournemouth get the EFL season under way, kicking from right to left.
There’s an even lovelier roar as the players stroll onto the field. Bournemouth are wearing red-and-black stripes; West Brom are sporting this little number.
There’s a lovely low hum around the Vitality Stadium, with a crowd of around 11,000 expected. Is this normal?
“Hey Rob, the new fitba season, at last!” says Simon McMahon, whose season technically started a month ago. “Been a poor summer for sport, what with just the Euros, Wimbledon, the Open golf, Olympics, and cricket (not including the Hundred) to keep us going. Good old Championship though, eh? Like Jimmy Anderson, it always delivers.”
True that, though I doubt even Jimmy will still be delivering at the age of 129.
And here’s Scott Parker
“We’re looking forward to tonight. It’s a tough start, but I’m sure they’re staying the same about as us. This league is relentless and brings up tough games every week. Arnaut Danjuma’s future is still to be decided – the only reason he’s not in the squad tonight is because of an injury.”
Valerien Ismael’s pre-match thoughts
“We want to be a complete team - in possession, out of possession, on set pieces. We have the quality to stay at that level and now we need games. The most important thing is to show our determination from the first minute. We want to start the season well.
“We saw in the pre-season games that Alex [Mowatt] is very important. He is the link between the staff and the team; how knows our pholosophy perfectly and he has adapted to his new role here. We’re delighted to have him.”
Probable formations
Bournemouth (4-3-3) Travers; Smith, Mepham, Kelly, Zemura; Emiliano, Kilkenny, Billing; Brooks, Solanke, Anthony.
Substitutes: Stanislas, Taylor, Ibsen Rossi, Saydee, Moriah-Welsh, Dennis, Camp.
West Brom (3-4-3) Button; O’Shea, Bartley, Kipre; Furlong, Livermore, Mowatt, Townsend; Diangana, Robinson, Grant.
Substitutes: Johnstone; Ajayi, Zohore, Phillips, Tulloch, Ingram.
The teams
Yep, West Brom have only six subs.
📝 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 📝
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) August 6, 2021
🔺 Three full league debuts
🔺 Kelly captains the side
🔺 Ten academy graduates in squad
Here's how we line up for this evening's opening game with West Brom 🔥🔥#afcb 🍒 pic.twitter.com/juQMxZnPKW
📋 Our first starting XI of the season 🟡🔵
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) August 6, 2021
Alex Mowatt makes his debut, Cedric Kipré is set for his first league start for us, while David Button is also included.
Intouch Games Ltd | #WBA
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Pre-match reading
Transfer business
As ever there have been a lot of ins, lot of outs, lot of what-have-yous. Bournemouth have signed Brentford’s Emiliano Marcondes, who created the goal that beat them in last season’s play-offs, and the Leeds defender Leif Davis has joined on loan. Those doing one include Diego Rico, Asmir Begovic, Sam Surridge and – how the hell did it come to this - Jack Wilshere.
West Brom have lost an entire team of players. The most notable departure is the brilliant Matheus Pereira, who agitated for a move and has joined his boyhood club Al-Hilal Riyadh. Their main signings are Adam Reach and Alex Mowatt, who was Barnsley captain and is well versed in Ismaelball, while Brighton’s Matt Clarke has arrived on a season-long loan.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Bournemouth v West Bromwich Albion from the Vitality Stadium. Or, to put it another way, THE CHAMPIONSHIP IS BACK. And Bournemouth are the intrepid voyagers of 2021-22. They got the English season under way last Saturday, when they beat MK Dons 5-0 in the Carabao Cup, and now they host West Brom in the opening game of the EFL.
The fixture computer done good. This is a cracking start to the season, between two of the favourites for promotion. Both have new managers, Scott Parker at Bournemouth and Valerin Ismael at West Brom, and tonight should be an interesting clash of styles.
While Parker’s Fulham played neat, patient football, Ismael’s Barnsley were fast and aggressive. Reports of West Brom’s pre-season games suggest he is cutting his cloth slightly differently at the Hawthorns, with a less direct style of play, but they will be just as fierce without the ball. In. Your. Face.
Kick off 7.45pm.
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