Bournemouth 0-2 Southampton
- Goals: Danny Ings (£7.6m), Che Adams (£5.3m)
- Assists: Nathan Redmond (£6.2m), Michael Obafemi (£4.9m)
- Penalty Miss: Ings
- Penalty Save: Aaron Ramsdale (£4.4m)
- Bonus: Ramsdale x3, Adams x2, Alex McCarthy (£4.5m) x1
Danny Ings (£7.6m) scored his 21st Premier League goal of the season in Southampton’s 2-0 win over Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon, a victory that left the Cherries on the brink of relegation to the Championship.
From a Fantasy perspective, the match was all about one man.
After stroking Southampton into a 40th-minute lead with a well-placed shot from outside the area, Ings was handed the chance to double his tally and the visitors’ advantage when Harry Wilson (£5.7m) handled in his own box just before the hour-mark.
It was Southampton’s number nine, and not regular taker James Ward-Prowse (£5.7m), who stepped up from 12 yards but his tame penalty was easily saved by Aaron Ramsdale (£4.4m) in the Bournemouth goal.
While we’re of course talking about what Glenn Hoddle would call a ‘Sliding Doors situation’ and a different game would have subsequently panned out, the miss was in simplified terms the difference between four FPL points and a 13-point haul for Ings’ owners as the Saints’ striker would have been well clear in the bonus point stakes heading into the final half an hour.
Hasenhuttl wasn’t too miffed at the spot-kick miss, saying of Ings:
He normally makes the difficult ones, not the easy ones! If you see him working for the team and scoring, he’s unbelievably important for us. We wish him as many goals as possible but more important is that we win our last game against Sheffield at home.
As Hasenhuttl mentioned above, Ings has proved adept at converting half-chances into goals.
His deadlock-breaking strike was just that, with the in-form striker collecting a Nathan Redmond (£6.2m) pass, cutting inside and slotting beyond Ramsdale.
He nearly repeated that trick just after half-time, firing narrowly wide from 25 yards after again drifting in from the left wing.
More positively for FPL managers, this was his eighth successive post-resumption start (his third in six days) and yet another 90-minute run-out, with his afternoon only brought to an end in stoppage time.
With a full week to recover before the Gameweek 38+ visit of Sheffield United, he looks like a shoo-in to make Hasenhuttl’s line-up again on the final day.
Substitutes Michael Obafemi (£4.9m) and Che Adams (£5.3m) combined for Southampton’s stoppage-time nerve-settler, with Redmond and Ward-Prowse having earlier wasted decent openings and Ramsdale forced into six saves in all.
Sheffield United will likely offer a bigger challenge to Ings and co next Sunday, however, with only Liverpool having conceded fewer goals than the Blades this season.
At the other end, this was Saints’ third clean sheet since the restart last month, with Alex McCarthy (£4.5m) collecting a bonus point to supplement his shut-out.
He wasn’t particularly overworked, with two of his three stops regulation in nature, but his flying dive to deny a Harry Wilson equaliser was worthy of praise.
Hasenhuttl said of his side’s defensive display and the game overall:
The clean sheet was very tough work and hard work for my defenders, for the whole team.
We knew we had to expect intensity and we were prepared for that. The way we found the game after 20 minutes was a good one. We had problems in the beginning and it was not our game, it was a bit like ping pong.
On the absence of Jan Bednarek (£4.4m), who was replaced by the typically Jekyll-and-Hyde Jannik Vestergaard (£4.5m), the Southampton boss said ahead of kick-off:
Yesterday, he had a light muscle injury and it was too risky to bring him in with a busy week so it doesn’t make sense.
Bournemouth aren’t quite down but they will be if Watford get a point or more from either of their final two fixtures.
Given that the Hornets have to face Manchester City and Arsenal in those two matches, there is still hope for Howe’s side.
They certainly had a good go against Southampton, building on fine displays against Leicester City and Pep Guardiola’s troops in the last two Gameweeks.
Substitute Harry Wilson had two clear openings on the left-hand side of the visitors’ box, while half-namesake Callum Wilson (£7.4m) – goalless since March – nodded two decent chances off-target.
Sam Surridge (£4.3m) thought he had grabbed a dramatic late leveller, meanwhile, only for the VAR to chalk the goal off for an offside on Callum Wilson.
A devastated Howe lamented his side’s finishing after full-time, saying:
The lads gave everything to the match. I thought at times we played very well today, created a number of chances but, ultimately, our finishing in the last part was just missing and the break of the ball was slightly difficult for us.
We are disappointed with the first goal we conceded because, until that time, they hadn’t really threatened our goal. And I think the second one, it’s probably a result of the VAR decision at the end.
The one saving grace for Bournemouth could be their opponents in Gameweek 38+.
If results go their way elsewhere, then the Cherries may only have to beat Everton on the final day to stay up.
The Toffees are winless in four and have produced some limp displays of late although there isn’t really a stand-out FPL asset for the Cherries, with Callum Wilson short of goals, Gameweek 35+ hero Dominic Solanke (£5.1m) back on the bench on Sunday and rotation continuing in the wide areas.
Bournemouth XI (4-4-2): Ramsdale; Rico, Kelly, S Cook, Stacey; Stanislas (L Cook 70), Lerma (Surridge 82), Billing (Gosling 87), Brooks (H Wilson 46); King (Solanke 70), Wilson.
Southampton XI (4-4-2): McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Stephens, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Redmond; Long (Adams 66), Ings (Obafemi 90).
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FPL Lessons Learned From Gameweek 37+
- Norwich City 0-2 Burnley
- Bournemouth 0-2 Southampton
- Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Leicester City
- Brighton and Hove Albion 0-0 Newcastle United
- Sheffield United 0-1 Everton
- Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Crystal Palace
- Watford 0-4 Manchester City
- Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal
- Manchester United 1-1 West Ham United
- Liverpool 5-3 Chelsea
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