Bournemouth 0 Burnley 1: Jay Rodriguez scores late winner as Cherries plummet drop zone

JAY RODRIGUEZ nudged miserable Bournemouth back towards the drop zone with an 89th minute winner from the only shot on target all afternoon.

The powerful Burnley striker forced his way in front of Jack Stacey to bundle home from Ashley Westwood’s cross.

Jay Rodriguez scored a late winner as Burnley beat BournemouthCredit: PA:Press Association

It was the fourth time he had scored at the Vitality and proved unexpectedly dramatic end to one of the most miserable Premier League matches in memory.

And if ever there was an argument for a festive break, this was it.

Cold, wet and miserable with the football every bit as ugly as the bleak winter weather.

Pity the poor Burnley fans who endured a nine hour round-round trip to watch this dreadful slog until sub Rodriguez’s late intervention.

Mind you, even the slow train back to Lancashire must have seemed like a welcome relief after the longest 89 minutes of their lives.

Six yellow cards, 34 fouls and just that one single effort on target.

The result means Bournemouth are facing a relegation battle this seasonCredit: PA:Empics Sport

So the next time someone asks why Eddie Howe and Sean Dyche are constantly overlooked for the big jobs, simply show them the video of this.

Howe was already without ten sidelined players so the last thing he needed was to see stand-in skipper taken Simon Francis taken out by Ashley Barnes after just six minutes.

The Bournemouth defender was caught in the head by a high boot from Burnley’s ‘industrial’ striker and required lengthy treatment before continuing heavily bandaged.

Yet ref Martin Atkinson did not think the foul was even worthy of a VAR referral let alone any kind of card to curb the visitors’ aggression.

So Barnes could have few complaints when he was rattled by an equally meaty challenge from behind by Jefferson Lerma as both teams battled to get the upper hand.

Ryan Fraser took a heavy blow in a dull affair on the South CoastCredit: Reuters

Lerma almost cleared the stand behind keeper Nick Pope with the first decent chance of the game following good work down the right by Josh King and Lewis Cook.

But with neither team prepared to take risks on a sodden Vitality pitch, there was precious little to get the supporters even close to the edge of their seats.

They did get excited by another thunderous challenge from James Tarkowski which planted Ryan Fraser face first into the turf as they contested a header which the tiny Bournemouth winger was never going to win.

And Francis was far from impressed when Chris Wood jumped into keeper Aaron Ramsdale with a shoulder.

Things were starting to get tasty and Dyche’s angry demands for a booking for Dan Gosling’s blatant dive went unheeded by Atkinson.

But he did finally reach for his yellow card for Ashley Westwood’s late challenge on Diego Rico as a dismal first-half limped to its grim conclusion.

Barnes and Rico followed him into the book following a second-half shoving match before they were joined by Francis, Westwood and Dwight McNeil.

Phil Billing was fortunate to escape unpunished when he appeared to elbow chief irritant Barnes as they jostled for a corner but VAR ref David Coote had probably nodded off in front of his screen by then.

But just when it seemed that this was a match which was beyond all redemption, Dyche threw on Rodriguez for the labouring Barnes to score with his first touch of the afternoon.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk