BOURNEMOUTH. AFC Bournemouth was ultimately too strong for Cardiff City with the goal of R. Christie (25′), D. Solanke (68′) and A. Smithies (83′ own). AFC Bournemouth was unquestionably superior in terms of ball possession (72%) and that was among the factors of its victory.​

The match was played at the Vitality Stadium stadium in Bournemouth on Thursday and it started at 7:45 pm local time. The referee was James Linington who had the assistance of Robert Hyde and Nigel Lugg. The 4th official was Charles Breakspear. The weather was cloudy. The temperature was cold at 13 degrees Celsius or 55.36 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 90%.​

Match Statistics​

Ball possession

AFC Bournemouth had a strong ball possession 72% while Cardiff City was struggling with a 28% ball possession.

Attitude and shots

AFC Bournemouth was more aggressive with 66 dangerous attacks and 18 shots of which 6 were on target. This is one of the reasons why AFC Bournemouth won the match​.

AFC Bournemouth shot 18 times, 6 on target, 12 off target. Talking about the opposition, Cardiff City shot 7 times, 3 on target, 4 off target.

Cards

AFC Bournemouth received 1 yellow card (D. Solanke). On the other side, Cardiff City received 2 yellow cards (M. Harris and C. Nelson).

Also, Cardiff City didn’t finish the match with 11 players after L. Bacuna (Cardiff City) was sent off after receiving a straight red card in the (45′).

Standings

After playing this match, AFC Bournemouth will have 49 points to hold in the 1st place. Regarding the opposition, Cardiff City will stay with 22 points to remain in the 20th place.

Next matches

In the next match in the Championship, AFC Bournemouth will host Peterborough United on the 3rd of January with a 1-0 head to head record in favor of AFC Bournemouth (2 draws).

Cardiff City will play away agasint West Bromwich Albion on the 2nd of January with a 3-3 head to head record.

AFC Bournemouth – Formation

AFC Bournemouth started with a aggressive line-up (4-3-3).

The manager Scott Parker decided to play with the following team: Mark Travers (6.9), Jack Stacey (7.0), Gary Cahill (7.3), Lloyd Kelly (7.1), Jordan Zemura (6.5), Lewis Cook (6.9), Jefferson Lerma (7.0), Philip Billing (8.1), Ryan Christie (7.9), Dominic Solanke (8.0) and Jaidon Anthony (7.3).

The home team had on the bench: C. Mepham, Jamal Lowe (6.5), L. Davis, Ø. Nyland, B. Pearson, Emiliano Marcondes (7.3) and Junior Stanislas (6.5).

AFC Bournemouth could not rely on the presence of E. Marcondes (injured).

Substitutions

AFC Bournemouth made 3 changes: J. Anthony for J. Stanislas (69′), D. Solanke for J. Lowe (80′) and J. Stanislas for E. Marcondes (83′).

Best player: Philip Billing​

The most impressive player for AFC Bournemouth was Philip Billing even if he didn’t score any goal.

His rating is (8.1) with 49 passes (83% accurate) and 2 key passes. He was won 6 duels out of 7. He performed 3 crosses.

Cardiff City – Formation

Cardiff City started with a 3-4-2-1 line-up (3-4-2-1).

Steve Morison played with: Alex Smithies (6.0), Mark McGuinness (6.4), Aden Flint (6.3), Curtis Nelson (7.5), Perry Ng (6.6), Will Vaulks (7.1), Joe Ralls (7.0), Ryan Giles (6.7), Mark Harris (6.6), Leandro Bacuna (6.0) and Kieffer Moore (6.3).

These were the players on the bench: Ciaron Brown, Dillon Phillips, James Collins (6.2), Marlon Pack, Sean Morrison, Rubin Colwill (6.0) and Isaak Davies (6.4).

Cardiff City could not rely on the presence of J. Collins (injured).

Substitutions

Cardiff City made 3 changes: M. Harris for I. Davies (46′), K. Moore for J. Collins (59′) and I. Davies for R. Colwill (75′).

Best player: Curtis Nelson​

Following our analysis, the most impressive player for Cardiff City was Curtis Nelson.

His rating is (7.5) with 18 passes (72% accurate) and 1 key pass.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the Championship.​

• AFC Bournemouth – Cardiff City – 3-0
• Bristol City – Queens Park Rangers – 1-2
• Nottingham Forest – Huddersfield Town – 0-1
• Stoke City – Derby County – 1-2