Bournemouth gave their survival prospects a huge boost on Sunday evening after staging a crazy second-half performance to come from behind against Leicester City.
The visiting side actually went 1-0 up in the first half from leading goal scorer Jamie Vardy, with Leicester comfortably going into half time in the lead.
A drastic switch around in the second half started when Junior Stanislas scored his penalty. A chain reaction of fortune then occurred for Bournemouth with Leicester dropping to ten men with Caglar Soyuncu picking up a straight red and succeeding goals from Dominic Solanke and an own goal Jonny Evans, finishing the match at 4-1.
Story of the Match
First half dominance from the visitors
Bournemouth seemed to lack the fight that they need for Premier League survival, appearing demoralised by the wins from West Ham United and Watford FC this weekend, leaving 'The Cherries' six points away from safety before they even headed into this game.
Despite showing weakness in away games this calendar year, Leicester looked to be at their strongest, coming out all guns blazing as they dominated the first half possession with chances in double figures.
Leicester's smart, quick passing made it difficult for the home side to break their spells of possession and the Foxes' were just too comfortable on the ball to allow Bournemouth to cause any form of threat.
Vardy's break of the deadlock
A messy defensive performance from the Bournemouth centre backs, with Lloyd Kelly attempting to flick away Kelechi Iheanacho's cross allowed Jamie Vardy to hustle the ball into the back of the net. The striker remains the Golden Boot front runner, taking his tally to 23.
Bournemouth's only sight of goal in the first half came just after the 45th minute, with David Brook's super left footed strike being pushed wide by Kasper Schmeichel.
Second half switch over
Despite their dominance, Leicester's momentum was snatched away from them after the break. Schmeichel fired his goal kick straight into Wilfred Ndidi, resulted in the midfielder bringing down Callum Wilson, giving away a penalty in the 65th minute of the match. Stanislas fired the ball into the back of the net, making it all tied up twenty minutes into the second half.
From bad to worse for Leicester
In the space of two minutes, Bournemouth doubled their goal tally as Dominic Solanke saw his shot squirm through the legs of the Danish keeper, and the ball crept over the line to give the hosts the lead.
In the midst of the celebration after the goal, Soyuncu picked up a red card as he kicked out at Wilson when retrieving the ball. From what looked like it was going to be a comfortable win for Leicester was completely flipped on it's head in the space of a few minutes.
A cruel deflection off the leg of Jonny Evans confused the keeper, extending Bournemouths lead to three goals. Bournemouth had only scored three goals since the restart and here they doubled that in just the second half.
As one team's concentration was lost, the other started to thrive with Bournemouth discovering a new founded rush of confidence and the young English striker Solanke bagged another goal by skipping around Ryan Bennett and finishing coolly.
Takeaways
Chance of survival regained
Bournemouth went into the game with their heads low, being six points from safety with just a few games left to play. Without a victory since the break, they were becoming one of the favourites to be going down but can this outstanding win give Bournemouth the momentum they need for Premier League survival?
Champions League places going down to the wire
Leicester haven't been outside of the top four since September but Manchester United could change this with a win against Southampton tomorrow. Is the Champions League just too big of a stretch for the Foxes?