Bournemouth take a giant leap toward Premier League survival
Published:
AFC Bournemouth took a huge step toward Premier League survival with a convincing 2-0 win over Southampton on Tuesday night.
The Cherries hadn’t beaten their south-coast rivals in a competitive match since 1987 but were worthy winners thanks to goals from defender Steve Cook and the in-form Benik Afobe.
The win puts the Cherries eight points clear of the drop zone with 10 games to play and the odds on Eddie Howe’s men falling back into the championship – once as short as 7/10 – are now quoted at 12/1.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa all but sealed their fate with a meek showing in their 3-1 loss at home to Everton.
The Toffees raced into a 2-0 lead inside 30 minutes courtesy of goals from Ramiro Funes Mori and Aaron Lennon before Romleu Lukaku sealed the deal on the hour mark.
Rudy Gustede grabbed a consolation goal with 10 minutes to go but the Villans remain on 16 points and eight points from safety.
While Remi Garde’s side are mathematically still in the survival race odds of 1/250 on them being relegated suggest they have too much to do.
Norwich’s relegation fears were heightened inside a minute at Carrow Road as Kenedy put Chelsea ahead in a matter of seconds and Diego Costa double the lead just before the break.
Nathan Redmond gave Canaries fans hope with 12 minutes remaining but another loss for Alex Neil’s men sees them drop into the bottom three and priced at 1/2 for demotion.
Sunderland, meanwhile, moved out of the drop zone with a battling 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace and Black Cats fans will be among those hoping Newcastle – second bottom on 24 points at present – will fail to make two games in hand work to their advantage starting with a trip to Stoke to nigh.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
