Bournemouth are facing up to life back in the Championship after their five-season stay in the Premier League came to an end.
They pulled off an impressive win at Goodison Park to give themselves hope but although Watford lost at Arsenal, Aston Villa’s point at West Ham sealed the Cherries fate.
It was only their second win in their last 13 games and Eddie Howe will reflect if they had played with the same intensity and discipline all season they would not have found themselves in the drop zone.
An early penalty by the impressive Josh King gave them the start they needed and although Moise Kean equalised against the run of play, Jefferson Lerma’s header in first half stoppage time and substitute Junior Stanislas’ second half strike deservedly sealed the three points.
But it was all too little, too late, and Howe will reflect long and hard on where things went wrong.
The obvious one is that they conceded too many goals (65). Despite an impressive breakthrough season by 21-year-old goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, only Norwich and Villa ended up with worse defensive records.
It was the fifth season running they have conceded 60-plus goals but in previous campaigns, they scored enough to win enough games to stay up with some comfort.
But this time on too many occasions they have lacked a cutting edge – significantly none of their strikers has managed double figures.
Much of that has been down to a lack of creativity. Ryan Fraser was not the same player as last season and missed the vital final nine games after the resumption of the season after refusing to sign a new contract. On top of that David Brooks missed the first eight months of the season with an ankle injury.
Form in the last few games had picked up and gave the Cherries some hope but the damage had been done earlier in the season.
After beating Manchester United in November they were seventh but they followed that notable victory with five straight defeats and although they managed a win at Chelsea in December, the downward spiral had set in and never looked like ending.
Maybe Howe has been too stubborn at times to change to a more pragmatic, if boring, style. Now there will be question marks over his future and some of his players.
There have been suggestions that after eight years in charge Howe may want to take a break from football after such a draining season, while the club’s hierarchy might think it is time for a fresh face and fresh voice in the dressing room despite Howe’s fine work in previous seasons.
Nathan Ake, Callum Wilson, Josh King and David Brooks will all attract interest while ‘keeper Ramsdale looks a real prospect. But the Cherries will want to keep the bulk of their squad in the hope of bouncing straight back up.
Certainly today’s win will give them hope of a swift return.
They penned Everton back from the start and scored the early goal they were looking for when the lively King kept his nerve to convert a penalty after Richarlison had handled. A fine save from Jordan Pickford denied Wilson from making it 2-0.
Ramsdale saved well from Theo Walcott but it was against the run of play when Everton equalised three minutes before the break when the unmarked Kean tapped home at the far post from Walcott’s low cross.
The Cherries recovered quickly from the disappointment with Lerma climbing well to head home Diego Rico’s free-kick in first half stoppage time.
1 – Bournemouth have been relegated from the Premier League for the first time, ending a run of five seasons in the top-flight. Despair. pic.twitter.com/VCpFEs1FcO
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 26, 2020
Wilson should have scored in the second half but was denied first by Pickford’s fine save and then Leighton Baines’ last-ditch tackle. It was left to Stanislas to add the third although his shot should have been saved by Pickford.
While Howe digested the heartbreak of relegation, Everton’s defeat underlined the task facing Carlo Ancelotti to achieve the club’s ambitions of bringing European football back to Goodison.
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