Premier League
BournemouthAFC Bournemouth2HuddersfieldHuddersfield Town1

Bournemouth 2-1 Huddersfield Town: Cherries up to sixth with home win

By Mike HensonBBC Sport
Callum Wilson
Wilson has scored 10 goals in 18 games for club and country so far this season

Manager Eddie Howe hopes Bournemouth's win over Huddersfield brings their "mojo" back after defeats in their previous four matches.

The Cherries moved up to sixth in the Premier League thanks to early goals from Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser.

"A few weeks ago we were playing champagne football but we lost our mojo and hopefully this will bring it back," said Howe.

"We showed resilience and you can see how much the win means to us. It gets us on our feet again and looking forward."

Bournemouth went ahead after five minutes as Wilson muscled home a powerful header from Fraser's cross.

Wilson returned the favour soon after, slipping in Fraser for a well-worked second.

Huddersfield rallied with Terence Kongolo's first goal for the club halving the deficit before the interval.

Aaron Mooy shot low into the shins of goalkeeper Asmir Begovic from the best chance created during a spell of pressure on the other side of the break, but the Terriers left themselves with too much to do.

Bournemouth's win lifts them above Leicester, Manchester United and Everton, all of whom play on Wednesday.

Cherries get their work done early

Ryan Fraser scores Bournemouth
Fraser, who scored Bournemouth's second, now has as many Premier League assists as former Tottenham midfielder and Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric according to Opta

The hosts' recent poor results did not reflect the quality of their performances in single-goal defeats by Arsenal, Newcastle and Manchester United, and last weekend's 3-1 reverse at Manchester City.

Certainly Huddersfield, perched perilously one point above the relegation zone, struggled to contain the intelligent and incisive home attack early on.

Wilson, who scored a hat-trick in this fixture last year, found the Terriers defence in accommodating mood once again as he beat the offside trap and buried a header after just five minutes.

Fraser came close to providing a second shortly after, picking out Joshua King in the box, before bursting up the left to supply a side-foot finish to a slide-rule Wilson pass.

It perhaps came a little too easily for the hosts, who slipped deep and switched off early in the second half. An increasingly edgy Vitality Stadium greeted the final whistle with relief.

Huddersfield into double figures at last

Terence Kongolo
Kongolo, who made his loan move from Monaco permanent in the summer for a club record fee, scored his first goal for Huddersfield

Huddersfield manager David Wagner was left ruing his side's slow start.

"The goals we gave away were too easy and the opportunities we missed were presents. It was Christmas for Bournemouth," said the German in his post-match interview.

Before kick-off, Howe had pin-pointed the visitors' size and strength as a potential danger and 'Route One' almost provided a comeback trail for the Terriers.

Huddersfield began the evening as the only team in the top four divisions yet to reach double figures in the goals scored column and, with striker Steve Mounie suspended, their entire three-man defence combined to finally wipe out that statistic.

Kongolo jumped well to direct home a header, ending a passage of penalty area head tennis involving Christopher Schindler and Mathias Jorgensen.

The visitors penned Bournemouth deep and ushered forward more heavy artillery as the second half wore on, but, Mooy's chance apart, struggled to carve out any clear sights of goal.

To add to their disappointment, substitute Abdelhamid Sabiri suffered a serious looking shoulder injury only three minutes after coming on. It was the 22-year-old's first Premier League appearance since August.

Man of the match - Nathan Ake (Bournemouth)

Nathan Ake
Bournemouth's attack impressed early on, but they ended up relying on the defence and Nathan Ake made 15 clearances and five blocks, both match-high totals

'There is a lot of relief' - what they said

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe: "There is a lot of relief. It wasn't a vintage performance. At 2-0 you think we can go on but Huddersfield did very well and created chances. We defended heroically.

Not a vintage performance - Cherries boss Howe

"Football doesn't work kindly and credit to Huddersfield. They can feel hard done by.

"The manner of the defensive mentality and will to win when not playing well - we had that to get us over the line."

Huddersfield manager David Wagner: "We dominated the game in large parts and created chances. I have to say it was a free-kick to us before we conceded the first. But we only have to blame us. We have to make sure defensively in these situations we are more focused. Offensively we need to put our chances away.

It was Christmas for Bournemouth - Wagner

"We had enough opportunities to score at least two. We needed to score three or four today. We didn't take them and that is why we have no rewards."

Fraser's record-equalling season - the stats

  • Bournemouth are unbeaten in seven home matches against Huddersfield in all competitions, winning four and drawing three, since losing 1-0 in League One in August 2007.
  • Since the start of last season, only Brighton (17) and Watford (16) have lost more away Premier League games than Huddersfield (15).
  • Huddersfield have won just two of their past 19 Premier League games (drawing six and losing 11).
  • Kongolo's goal for Huddersfield was their fourth headed goal in the Premier League this season (4/10) - only Burnley (46%) and Newcastle (55%) have scored a higher percentage of headed goals in the competition this season.
  • Fraser has provided seven Premier League assists for Bournemouth so far this season - more than any other player has provided for the Cherries in a single Premier League campaign.
  • Wilson has scored eight Premier League goals in 15 appearances for Bournemouth this season - as many as his managed in 28 games last season.
  • Wilson has both scored and assisted in three different Premier League games this season (level with Raheem Sterling) - no player has done this on more occasions this season.

What's next?

Bournemouth entertain Liverpool at 12:30 GMT on Saturday with Huddersfield away to Arsenal at 15:00 GMT on the same day.

Line-ups

Bournemouth

Formation 4-4-2

  • 27Begovic
  • 2FrancisBooked at 73mins
  • 3S Cook
  • 5Aké
  • 11DanielsBooked at 64mins
  • 20BrooksSubstituted forStanislasat 62'minutes
  • 16L CookBooked at 90mins
  • 8Lerma
  • 24FraserSubstituted forMoussetat 87'minutesBooked at 90mins
  • 17KingSubstituted forMingsat 90+3'minutes
  • 13Wilson

Substitutes

  • 1Boruc
  • 6Surman
  • 9Mousset
  • 18Defoe
  • 19Stanislas
  • 21Rico
  • 26Mings

Huddersfield

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Lössl
  • 33Hadergjonaj
  • 25M Jorgensen
  • 26Schindler
  • 5KongoloSubstituted forMbenzaat 75'minutes
  • 8BillingBooked at 61minsSubstituted forSabiriat 75'minutesSubstituted forSobhiat 78'minutes
  • 6Hogg
  • 10MooyBooked at 57mins
  • 21Pritchard
  • 37Durm
  • 20Depoitre

Substitutes

  • 2Smith
  • 9Kachunga
  • 12Hamer
  • 14Sobhi
  • 18Mbenza
  • 19Williams
  • 29Sabiri
Referee:
Roger East
Attendance:
9,980

Match Stats

Home TeamBournemouthAway TeamHuddersfield
Possession
Home33%
Away67%
Shots
Home6
Away23
Shots on Target
Home2
Away6
Corners
Home4
Away8
Fouls
Home14
Away11

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Bournemouth 2, Huddersfield Town 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Bournemouth 2, Huddersfield Town 1.

  3. Post update

    Attempt missed. Christopher Schindler (Huddersfield Town) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Erik Durm.

  4. Booking

    Lewis Cook (Bournemouth) is shown the yellow card.

  5. Post update

    Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  6. Post update

    Foul by Lewis Cook (Bournemouth).

  7. Substitution

    Substitution, Bournemouth. Tyrone Mings replaces Joshua King.

  8. Post update

    Attempt missed. Joshua King (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Callum Wilson with a headed pass.

  9. Booking

    Lys Mousset (Bournemouth) is shown the yellow card.

  10. Post update

    Attempt saved. Florent Hadergjonaj (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Zanka with a headed pass.

  11. Post update

    Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Nathan Aké.

  12. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

  13. Substitution

    Substitution, Bournemouth. Lys Mousset replaces Ryan Fraser.

  14. Post update

    Attempt missed. Alex Pritchard (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jonathan Hogg.

  15. Post update

    Foul by Florent Hadergjonaj (Huddersfield Town).

  16. Post update

    Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  17. Substitution

    Substitution, Huddersfield Town. Ramadan Sobhi replaces Abdelhamid Sabiri because of an injury.

  18. Post update

    Delay over. They are ready to continue.

  19. Post update

    Delay in match Abdelhamid Sabiri (Huddersfield Town) because of an injury.

  20. Post update

    Abdelhamid Sabiri (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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