AFC Bournemouth manager, Eddie Howe rued missed opportunities as his side slipped to a 2-1 defeat at home to 10-man Sunderland on Saturday in the Premier League.

Missed opportunities come back to bite the Cherries

Dan Gosling put the Cherries in front after just 11 minutes, but Howe was left feeling frustrated as his side failed to push on from there: “First and foremost I think we should have been looking to go 2-0 ahead, there were a couple of chances in the first half which were good opportunities for us which we didn’t take."

Sunderland striker Victor Anichebe drew the visitors level as they grew into the game and despite dominant spells from the Cherries early on in the second half, they were unable to capitalise, much to Howe’s frustration.

Steven Pienaar’s sending off for a second bookable offence should have been a catalyst for the home side to go on and win according to the English manager: “They came back into the game and you feel that with the red card it’s going to turn in your favour again”, he said. “We had a really good spell for 15 minutes where we battered their goal, dominated the ball and they couldn’t get out of their half and that’s the moment where really we needed to capitalise.”

​Howe left perplexed by his side's poor conversion of chances

Anichebe caused Bournemouth right back Adam Smith problems all afternoon and, as a result, the defender brought down the Nigerian striker down in the box to give Sunderland a penalty; a precious lifeline for a club in search of their first league win of the season. Howe had no complaints with the decision to award the penalty and former Cherries player Jermain Defoe stepped up and converted the strike to secure the win for the Black Cats.

This is the second defeat in a row for Bournemouth, both against teams who were below them in the table, after a 2-0 defeat away at Middlesbrough last week. Howe was extremely disappointed with his sides inability to convert chances, describing it as uncharacteristic.

“I think the last two games we’ve had some guilt edged chances, it’s been unlike us," he said. "You know, you go from scoring six against Hull and look free scoring, full of confidence to creating a hat full of chances and not being in a position to really finish them off."

Howe’s men will have to wait until after the international break to bounce back, where they will face Stoke City, who sit one place above them in the table, away from home.

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About the author
Joshua Coase
2nd Year Multimedia Journalism Bournemouth University, UK - Accredited Journalist for VAVEL USA Tennis and writer for VAVEL UK AFC Bournemouth section.