After a month of mixed emotions towards results and performances, AFC Bournemouth headed into October with an awkward run of fixtures.
Facing both Leicester City and Aston Villa away whilst playing Arsenal at home, there was a great deal of apprehension amongst the fan base about avoiding a slide down the table.
Many saw Bournemouth’s best hopes of a win coming against Leicester, but it was going to be no easy test given the Foxes will be vying to keep their Premier League status throughout the 2024/25 season.
For the other two fixtures, the Cherries would be up against two of England’s representatives in the Champions League - one of which were challenging for the Premier League title themselves.
And if it was not bad enough, Bournemouth’s last five games against each of these three teams saw the Cherries fail to win in ten of those fifteen games, so it was going to need something special to avoid a horror show.
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Leicester City 1-0 Bournemouth
Bournemouth’s October did not start off as hoped with the Cherries falling to a 1-0 defeat at the King Power Stadium to Leicester City in what was a toothless performance for the south coast side.
The Foxes’ Facundo Buonanotte scored the only goal in the game, producing a classy finish after some lax defending from Bournemouth’s backline.
But Bournemouth did not go down without a fight and, in fact, carved themselves out some glorious chances to at least level the score.
Both Dango Ouattara and Illia Zabarnyi managed to strike the woodwork from close range, with other chances either squandered wide or well-saved by Mads Hermansen.
Whilst the first half was more equal, the second half saw the Cherries dominant and they arguably deserved something for their hard work.
However, it was the same old story for Bournemouth, with the team having no problem creating chances to score but failing to convert them.
The stats backed this up, with the visitors having 13 more shots than Leicester and 21 more touches in the box too.
Yet, both teams only managed two shots on target each.
The difference was that the hosts were able to convert at least one of these shots, whilst Bournemouth fans were left wondering what could have been.
Bournemouth’s next test was title challengers Arsenal. Gulp...
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Bournemouth 2-0 Arsenal
After a disappointing result against relegation favourites, Leicester City, the Cherries headed into a tough run of fixtures after the less-than-inspiring international break, starting with Arsenal, finishing with Manchester City and Aston Villa sandwiched in between.
Bournemouth’s hopes of a result, however, quickly increased with the news that Bakayo Saka would be out injured along with Martin Ødegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli would only be fit enough to start on the bench.
It got even better during the game when William Saliba received a straight red card on 30 minutes after cynically bringing down Evanilson.
Up until this game, Bournemouth had never managed to get anything out of Mikel Arteta’s Gunners but a beautifully-worked corner routine saw Ryan Christie score a rare goal and a late penalty was converted by Justin Kluivert to seal a memorable win under the lights for Cherries’ fans.
Remarkably, it was also Bournemouth’s first clean sheet of the season, rounding off a perfect night for Andoni Iraola’s men.
The victory was a result of Bournemouth’s hard work, tactics and a little bit of luck thrown in and given how much has gone against the seasiders already this season, it was a long time coming that the club would be on the right end of some refereeing decisions and a result.
It was a result to put away the woes of the previous result and set up the team nicely going into their last match of the month against Aston Villa.
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Aston Villa 1-1 Bournemouth
Bournemouth’s last game of the month saw a difficult test away to Champions League outfit Aston Villa, a fixture that saw the Cherries lose 3-1 last season after leading in the game.
Iraola had surprised fans with the team selection by swapping Evanilson for Enes Ünal and starting Irishman Mark Travers in goal after Kepa Arrizabalaga picked up a late adductor injury.
After a somewhat frantic first ten minutes for the visitors, they found themselves a place in the game and it felt as if they were always competing, even if they did not have possession or clear-cut chances.
The first half passed without any goals, mainly down to the tremendous efforts of stand-in ‘keeper Travers, who ended up being named Man of the Match for his superb goalkeeping efforts.
But Villa could not go a whole game without converting their excellent chances and finished off a scruffy effort on 76 minutes courtesy of Ross Barkley.
As the game looked to be running out of minutes and opportunities, Bournemouth had one last chance to equal the scores with a free kick from the left.
Just like they have done in many other games this season, they found a way to put the ball in the back of the net with little time left.
Evanilson guided a header just beyond the reach of Emiliano Martínez, and full credit must go to the players and management for giving everything until the final whistle.
It was a fully deserved result with some dogged performances, and a great way to round off the month after a disappointing result against Leicester.
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Overall Verdict: 8/10
October presented Bournemouth with plenty of challenges and an eclectic mix of opposition, requiring different tactics and approaches.
The defeat against Leicester was, of course, unwanted but it was more the manner of the performance that upset fans, as the Cherries failed on multiple occasions to put the ball in the back of the net.
But this result was completely forgotten as Bournemouth put in two fantastic performances against two quality sides - Arsenal and Aston Villa - to gain four points from six, putting the Cherries' season back on track.
Fans may have feared the worst after the first game but Iraola’s men showed their ability to go toe-to-toe with some of the best teams in the league and come out with a result, making it not only a successful month for Cherries fans but also a memorable one.
