Bournemouth were reduced to ten men on Saturday afternoon against Norwich when captain and centre-back Steve Cook saved the ball from going in their goal
On Saturday it was a huge game at the bottom of the table between Norwich and Bournemouth. The Cherries went into the game in 19th place, six points above Norwich. This was a must-win game for both sides if they wanted any chance of avoiding relegation this season.
Norwich were the favourites for this one but it was going to be a tight game. Eddie Howe’s side was in a very poor run of form before this and need to turn their season around as soon as possible. Their last point was on Boxing Day against Arsenal with their last win coming against Man United at the start of November.
To put this into perspective, when they won against United they went into seventh place, now they are in 19th. With no goal for them also in their last three games, it was going to be a tough one for Eddie Howe. However, Norwich weren’t in the best of form either. They had just been beaten 4-0 by Man United.
Norwich started the game well but couldn’t open the scoring. A few good chances for the home side but all going wide. Then the moment of the match, if not the weekend, happened.
Ramsdale came running out to close down Pukki and cleared the ball. It fell to Duda who had to get it over Ramsdale and into the open goal. Centreback Cook was getting up as he hit and pull of a fantastic save pushing the ball onto the post. He knew straight away it would be a red card and he had no complaints when it was shown to him. Pukki stepped up and scored the penalty to put Norwich ahead after 33 mins.
On top of this, Norwich had Godfrey sent off towards the end of the game. He was originally shown a yellow for a late challenge but the referee used the monitor and upgraded it to a red.
Relegation battle
This was a huge win for Norwich. Even though they didn’t go up a place in the table, they are now six points off getting out the bottom three instead of nine.
The loss has also increased the pressure on manager Eddie Howe. He has taken Bournemouth from League Two to the Premier League but is considering if staying is the best move for him and the club.
Bournemouth are now odds on to be relegated at the end of the season with Betway at 8/15. For them to finish bottom is 100/30, which could very much happen now Norwich have got closer to them.
According to Betway, Norwich’s fate is sealed. They are 1/7 to get relegated and 1/2 to finish bottom.
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