Carabao Cup Bournemouth 4-1 Everton – Cherries cruise into fourth round

In a third-round Carabao Cup matchup between drastically different Premier League teams, Bournemouth destroyed Everton.

Blues manager Frank Lampard made 11 changes, but his team lost to a team that had nine changes from the weekend.

Junior Stanislas scored after a defensive blunder gave the Cherries the lead after Jamal Lowe’s deflected shot.

Demarai Gray, an Everton replacement, got one back before Emiliano Marcondes and Jaidon Anthony put Bournemouth in the round of 16.

Lampard Loses In Reserves Gamble

With the final round of Premier League games before the 2022 World Cup, this weekend, Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil and Everton counterpart Lampard made significant changes.

For the hosts from their incredible 4-3 loss at Leeds United on Saturday, only goalkeeper Mark Travers and central defender Chris Mepham kept their spots.

Even further, Lampard completely changed his starting lineup from Saturday’s loss to Leicester, starring James Garner for the first time for Everton.

Asmir Begovic was left stranded when Lowe’s shot hit Nathan Patterson and looped into the net to give the new-look Cherries the lead after seven minutes.

After that, Everton had the better of the first-half opportunities. In the first 16 minutes, Tom Davies missed a one-on-one, Garner’s shot was well saved by Travers, and Anthony Gordon’s header from six yards was misdirected over the crossbar.

Gordon should be grateful that there is no VAR in the EFL Cup because he should have been sent off for a two-footed lunge on Jordan Zemura just before halftime but only received a booking, his seventh in 14 games this season.

Throughout the game, Everton fans criticized Lampard for his decision to make so many substitutions, upset that the chance of winning a first major trophy since 1995 was lost.

O’Neil Returns To Winning Ways

After Scott Parker was fired as interim manager of Bournemouth, O’Neil won all six of his games without losing, but in the last four games he has presided over losses.

A cup run won’t hurt his chances of getting a permanent job, but if Everton had taken their chances, the outcome might have been very different.

Instead, after 47 minutes, Everton conceded a goal to Bournemouth’s captain Stanislas. Ryan Christie was able to steal it because Mason Holgate stumbled as Begovic passed it to him.

He crossed to Lowe, whose shot was stopped by Begovic, but it rebounded to Stanislas, who tucked it away as Michael Keane, the defender in coverage, was slow to react.

Stanislas spoke highly of O’Neil after the game, telling BBC Radio Solent: “He has been excellent for all of us. He has collaborated with us for a few seasons.

“He has exerted himself to the fullest, and the outcomes are excellent. We are constantly being pushed and driven by him.

“Although we are unsure of what will happen over the holiday break, we are hoping to end the semester on a positive note on Saturday.”

Gray did have an impact on the game by curling the ball past Travers in the 67th minute to make it 2-1 as a result of Lampard’s substitutions of Alex Iwobi, Dwight McNeil, and Gray in an effort to salvage the game.

In their last two Premier League games, Bournemouth has blown two-goal leads, but this time they capitalized on their opportunities to win easily.

O’Neil’s chances of getting the Vitality Stadium manager’s job on a full-time basis were further improved by Marcondes’ close-range goal and Anthony’s low finish after Patterson turned the ball over.

Reference: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/63466364