Bournemouth dreams big after capitalizing on Brighton's malaise | first division

There were some surprises when Bournemouth owner Bill Foley said in December that he was confident the club could qualify for Europe within five years, but that prediction doesn't seem entirely unreasonable now. Comfortable victory thanks to goals from Marcos Senesi and Enes Unal in the first first division The start and Justin Kluivert mean Andoni Iraola's side still have a slim chance of making it this season after totally outplaying a Brighton team who have clearly lost their way under Roberto De Zerbi.

In December, Foley, the American billionaire who has big plans for Bournemouth With a new 18,500-seat stadium in the pipeline and having already invested more than £200m, they cited their south coast rivals' participation in the Europa League this season as an example of what can be achieved with the right approach. With this evidence, Iraola is certainly heading in the right direction.

“This group deserves to get to this point after the work they have done,” said the Bournemouth manager, whose team has surpassed the club's Premier League points total achieved under Eddie Howe in 2017 and will face Arsenal in their next match. . “The players have grown during the season and are finishing very well. But now we have a great challenge: to see if we can continue moving forward.”

However, while Foley could face a fight to retain Iraola's services in the summer after an outstanding first campaign in which Bournemouth moved four points clear of Brighton and into the top half of the table despite not achieve his first victory until October 28, Things are falling apart quickly for De Zerbi. Having been passed over by Liverpool and Bayern Munich this week after publicly hinting in March that his future could lie elsewhere, the Italian is winless in his last six games as Brighton's hopes of another European campaign have dwindled. evaporated.

“We are sorry for the performance, but we cannot give our best and it is not good enough to compete in the Premier League,” De Zerbi admitted in frustration.

“I can't accept a game without soul because we are Brighton and we have to respect ourselves and the club. “I am suffering a lot but we have to stop these moments quickly.”

De Zerbi's response to Manchester City's midweek win was to make seven changes, with the first Premier League starts going to 21-year-old defender Odel Offiah, nephew of rugby league legend Martin, and 19-year-old forward Mark O'Mahony, whom the coach of the Brighton described this week. as “the new Evan Ferguson.”

The Republic of Ireland striker was considered one of the league's brightest prospects 12 months ago but was one of eight players missing through injury here in what has been the story of Brighton's season. Unfortunately for O'Mahony, who arrived from Cork City last January for just £50,000, his only real impact here came on the wrong side.

Antoine Semenyo, who was stretchered off at the end with a suspected knee injury, the only negative for Bournemouth – “he looks bad,” Iraola said afterwards – has been at the heart of his team's revival and a move sublime from Ghana. The forward left Valentín Barco in the dust. Dominic Solanke's shot appeared to hit Lewis Dunk's elbow but referee Paul Tierney dismissed calls for a penalty. Bournemouth's frustration was short-lived, however, as Senesi was on hand to head in from the next corner after the ball had bounced tantalizingly off the shoulder of the unfortunate O'Mahony.

Brighton responded well by going behind and would have equalized if Facundo Buonanotte had not delayed his shot and allowed Mark Travers to save with his feet. But De Zerbi's team looked extremely fragile in defense and a mistake by Igor Julio allowed the impressive Alex Scott to catch Unal, only for the Turkish striker to deflect his shot wide.

A run by Scott required Dunk to deflect his shot over the bar, but Unal was too casual after Bart Verbruggen gifted Semenyo possession just before the break. While Iraola was a bundle of energy on the touchline, De Zerbi looked completely miserable with his hands in his pockets while Solanke was given time and space to shoot but he could only spot the Brighton goalkeeper.

O'Mahony was sacrificed at half-time for the experienced Danny Welbeck as the visitors' defense remained under siege. Bournemouth should have doubled their lead almost immediately after the restart, when Solanke's shot around the corner played into Kluivert, but could only find the side netting. It wasn't long before they had a second: Unal had just tested Verbruggen with a free-kick from almost 40 yards when he found himself unmarked at the far post to guide home Dango Ouattara's hanging cross.

Having missed several chances to make things even more miserable for Brighton, Kluivert finally found the net with a powerful finish from Ryan Christie's pass three minutes from time to leave De Zerbi with much to ponder.