Bournemouth eased past Huddersfield Town at the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday evening, running out 0-3 winners.

Goals from Jaidon Anthony, Jefferson Lerma and Dominic Solanke secured a straightforward win for The Cherries in a huge boost to their automatic promotion charge.

It was however a disappointing afternoon for Carlos Coberan and his side, who would have been hoping to put pressure on Bournemouth for the automatic promotion places.

Story of the match

Dominic Solanke had a fantastic chance to get his 23rd goal of the season early on when he had a half volley unmarked inside the box, but his effort was straight at Lee Nicholls, who palmed the shot away.

The Terriers then had an opening, as Danny Ward aimed a cross for the back post which was headed just over his own bar by Lloyd Kelly.

Mark Travers was called into action for the first time in the game when he saved a header which came from the resulting corner.

Solanke then hit the frame of the goal from a free kick, as Ryan Christie crossed it into the £17m signing, but the striker could only head it onto the crossbar.

In the 20th minute Solanke set up Jaidon Anthony by playing the ball across the box which Anthony tapped home to put The Cherries in front.

Embed from Getty Images

Harry Toffolo tried to get The Terriers level with his volley from a free kick, but it went just over the bar.

The chance did at least get the home crowd excited, who were trying to get their side back into the game.

Ward then headed the ball goalwards from a cross into the box, but an important stop from Travers kept Bournemouth in front.

Bournemouth then had a second and The Terriers only had themselves to blame for the way they conceded the goal.

Solanke was played in on goal but Nicholls raced off his line to save it, but a defensive mix-up meant that the ball was not cleared from Huddersfield's box.

The ball then dropped to Jefferson Lerma, who dispatched the ball beyond the stranded Nicholls to make it 0-2.

The visitors were unfortunate not to be given a penalty when Solanke flicked the ball towards goal, hitting a hand before going wide, but the referee waved the appeals away.

Kelly read the game well when Sorba Thomas broke through on goal for Carlos Coberan's side, but Kelly was on hand to steer him away from goal.

Lewis O'Brien was fortunate to not put the ball into his own net when he slid to clear a cross which had turned him around, which he did manage to just get past his own post.

Scott Parker's side were deservedly in front at the break, leading 0-2 thanks to goals from Anthony and Lerma.

It was however a really poor display by The Terriers, who had failed to produce anywhere near their best in a dismal opening 45 minutes in West Yorkshire for the hosts.

Half time score: Huddersfield Town 0-2 AFC Bournemouth

Solanke started the second half in some style, making it 0-3 to The Cherries with a beautiful flick into the bottom right hand corner.

The striker got himself on the end of a cross from the left hand side which was just behind him, but he was able to adjust himself to flick the ball beyond Nicholls.

The game was all but wrapped up for the hosts as soon as the second half kicked off.

The pace of the game did slow down slightly after the third goal went in, as Bournemouth seemed to be content with the score, but with the majority of possession, they still had the chance to create more openings.

Substitite Levi Colwill made an important tackle to prevent Phillip Billing racing in on goal against his former club.

At the other end, Josh Koroma played the ball into Ward, who saw his shot spilled by Travers, but it was collected by him at the second attempt.

Matty Pearson needed to reach top speed to beat Solanke to the ball and put it behind for a corner, which came to nothing.

Koroma aimed the ball for the far post, but his cross was too long and nobody in a blue and white shirt was able to get on the end of it.

As the game approached the final 15 minutes The Cherries were comfortably passing the ball around the pitch under little pressure from their opponents as the game petered out.

Substitute Todd Cantwell cut the ball back to Lerma who saw his shot blocked.

Anthony was then unlucky not to score as he cut in from the left hand side and fired just wide.

Christie had a shot with the outside of his boot on the edge of the area which flew just wide.

Full time saw Bournemouth confirm a huge win in the context of their season, and chants of 'we are going up' from the away end showed that.

The Terriers were poor on the day and deserved to lose 0-3, and Coberan will wonder what went wrong for his side. 

Takeaways from the match

Bournemouth's good run of form against The Terriers continued at the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday afternoon, as The Cherries have now won all of the last six meetings between the sides.

Yet another impressive striking display from Solanke was helpful in getting them the win as well as some poor defending from the hosts, but Bournemouth were still able to prove their automatic promotion credentials on Saturday afternoon.

After a dip in form in which Parker's side had only won one of their last four matches, such an emphatic win against automatic promotion rivals will be pleasing to the former Fulham boss.

In contrast, it was a dismal showing from Huddersfield in what was a big chance to gain ground on the automatic promotion spots for them.

Huddersfield had not lost in 17 matches in the Championship until their 2-0 loss against Millwall at The Den on Wednesday night, but they had lost two consecutive games by Saturday evening.

They were not anywhere near their best, and were made to pay by Bournemouth who were impressive in West Yorkshire on Saturday.

Embed from Getty Images

The result condemned The Terriers to their first defeat at the John Smith's Stadium in nine games.

Stand-out player

Jefferson Lerma's first goal since April 2021 made him the stand out player from the match.

The Colombian midfielder controlled the battle in the middle of the park, which saw the visitors on Saturday afternoon dominate proceedings.

Lerma also had to be in the right place at the right time to double The Cherries' lead, and he coolly placed the ball beyond Nicholls to score.

It was a complete performance from Lerma, who helped his side to secure a vital win in their push for automatic promotion.

Embed from Getty Images

Huddersfield Town: Nicholls, Toffolo, Pearson, O'Brien (c), Thomas, Holmes (Anjorin 69'), Turton, Sinani (Koroma 53'), Ward, Lees (Colwill 46'), Russell.

AFC Bournemouth: Travers, Phillips, Cook, Kelly (c), Lerma (Lowe 82'), Christie, Smith, Billing (Cantwell 79'), Anthony, Zemura, Solanke.

Referee: Simon Hooper.

VAVEL Logo
About the author