Burnley 0 Bournemouth 2
If it was a glorious day for Burnley’s favourite sporting son, it was a dreadful one for its football club. Incompetence off the pitch was replaced by ineptitude on it as they beat an ignominious exit from the FA Cup.
After England bowler Jimmy Anderson's sublime efforts in India, his beloved Burnley risked ridicule. They initially named Erik Pieters on the teamsheet, without realising the left back was suspended, running the risk of expulsion from the competition for fielding an ineligible player. Instead, Bournemouth, courtesy of Sam Surridge and Junior Stanislas, ensured they went out in more conventional, if still undistinguished, fashion.
This was Burnley’s first fifth-round tie since they lost to non-league Lincoln in 2017; factor in League Cup defeats by Accrington, Burton and Port Vale and Sean Dyche’s record on such stages remains wretched.
But as Bournemouth excelled, anyone ignorant of the two clubs’ fortunes in the last 12 months could be forgiven for thinking they were still the Premier League club.
They secured a first quarter-final appearance since Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, as they were then known, reached the last eight in 1957. For Jonathan Woodgate, whose two games as caretaker manager have both brought stirring victories, it has amounted to a terrific start to his reign. Woodgate's poor spell in charge of Middlesbrough means he is still an outsider to take the helm on a permanent basis but he will stake a claim if he continues in this vein.
Harry Redknapp has become a temporary addition to Bournemouth's coaching staff, joining as an adviser to Woodgate, whom he managed at Spurs, but he did not make the trip north. Bournemouth will have to wait a little longer to see Redknapp in their dugout for the first time since 1992. Their former manager, the architect of their greatest FA Cup win, when they eliminated holders Manchester United in 1984, had much to savour from afar.
Some of the drama took place behind the scenes. BT Sport were adamant that Burnley had not realised Pieters, who had collected cautions in the previous two rounds, was suspended until their statistician, Joel Miller, pointed it out. The club cited an administrative error and said they noticed themselves.
The rookie Anthony Glennon was parachuted in for a first start and, whether or not that affected Burnley, they began terribly. Perhaps Pieters would have cut out the cross for Bournemouth's goal, though it may be harsh to fault Glennon for failing to halt the overlapping Jack Stacey, who supplied an inviting cross for Surridge to lift a finish into the roof of the net.
After scoring at Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, he added another goal against top-flight opposition. Surridge owed his opportunity to the fact Dominic Solanke was injured and Shane Long was cup-tied, but he took it.
And Bournemouth merited their lead. Stanislas directed a half-volley wide. The lively Surridge teed up Philip Billing, who thudded a shot into the advertising hoardings. The sole threat Burnley had on goal in the first half was on their own, with Bailey Peacock-Farrell required to make a flying save to stop Dale Stephens's header going into his own net.
Burnley did not test Asmir Begovic until the second half, when Matej Vydra drew a low save. Begovic was altogether less convincing in pushing Dwight McNeil's long-range shot wide. They should have levelled when Vydra scuffed a shot into Jay Rodriguez's path but he spooned it high over the bar.
It ranked as one of the more embarrassing misses of the season. Bournemouth proved more clinical. They could have extended their lead with headers from Billing and Cameron Carter-Vickers before Ireland centre half Kevin Long bundled Surridge over. Stanislas's penalty, two minutes from the end of the 90, was unstoppable. – Guardian
