Bournemouth ended the 2016-17 campaign in decent fashion with a 1-1 draw against last season's champions Leicester City at their own ground. The Cherries' away form has been mediocre at best this season, but the point secured at the King Power stadium earned them a place in the Premier League's top 10. It might be insignificant to the rest of the division, but to Eddie Howe and his team it's another standout moment in the club's growing history.
Positives
Apart from securing a top-10 finish, seeing under-21 player Matt Worthington on the pitch in the Premier League for the first time proved the club's academy is alive and kicking. It should supply motivation to everyone else at the club that if they work hard enough, Howe will give young players opportunities. Junior Stanislas capping off his season with the club's 100th Premier League goal was also well deserved.
Negatives
Allowing more than 20 shots on goal was the main negative. A lack of urgency from the midfield combined with poor positioning from both full-backs allowed Leicester plenty of room to create these opportunities. If the home side were more ruthless with their finishing, the Cherries definitely would have lost by at least two goals.
Manager
9 -- Pleasing to see Worthington given a chance, but taking Ryan Fraser off was arguably the wrong decision.
Player ratings: (1-10; 10=best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Ryan Allsop, 7 -- Made some useful saves, including a shot heading for the top left corner in the 70th minute. It was a good performance overall considering he hasn't played all season.
DF Adam Smith, 6 -- Was caught wandering from his position for Leicester's goal. The Foxes were allowed acres of space to ping the cross in from the left for the equaliser, and this was a common theme throughout the 90 minutes. Is great going forward, but is frequently caught out defensively.
DF Simon Francis, 6 -- Won't be happy with allowing Leicester to equalise so easily. Has to take blame for the lack of organisation at the back. Other than that, did what he needed to do and helped keep Jamie Vardy at bay for the most part.
DF Steve Cook, 7 -- Put in another consistent 90 minutes. His positioning is great and his no-nonsense style of defending will be attracting a lot of potential buyers this summer.
DF Charlie Daniels, 6 -- Was beaten too easily at the back post for Leicester's equalising goal. Much like fellow full-back Smith, he was exposed when the Cherries were forced to defend.
MF Ryan Fraser, 7 -- His pace and movement posed problems for Leicester and he arguably should not have been the player substituted off late in the second half. If the Cherries were going to grab a winner, it looked more than likely it was going to come from Fraser.
MF Andrew Surman, 6 -- Put in a satisfactory performance in his first game back after a stint out with injury. It would be a shock if Howe still considered Surman as his preferred partner alongside Harry Arter at the start of next season.
MF Dan Gosling, 6 -- Injected his usual high-tempo pressing into Bournemouth's play, but struggled to make much of an impact when on the ball.
MF Marc Pugh, 6 -- Failed to find his performance levels from recent weeks and was uncharacteristically dispossessed on a couple of occasions.
MF Junior Stanislas, 7 -- Was one of the better players on the pitch for the second week running and had the honour of scoring Bournemouth's 100th goal in the Premier League. His trickery down the wing caused Leicester's back four constant problems throughout the game.
FW Lys Mousset, 5 -- Aside from firing the initial shot toward Kasper Schmeicel in goal, which then led to Stanislas finding the net, the summer signing didn't do much else. His pace did stretch the Leicester back line on occasion, but he failed to make much of an impact.
Substitutes
MF Jordon Ibe, 5 -- Had a brilliant opportunity to bag the winner in the 88th minute as he was threaded through on goal, but his first touch was abysmal and ended up in Schmeicel's hands. It was not his best 27 minutes of football.
MF Matt Worthington, N/R -- Pleasing to see a product of Bournemouth's U21 side get an opportunity in the first team. He didn't do his reputation any harm at all with a solid 15 minutes.
FW Benik Afobe, 7 -- Replaced Mousset in the second half and added a much-needed alternative option up front with his physicality and strength.
