ANDONI Iraola explains the patient pressing that led to the Cherries’ goal in their 3-1 defeat to Brighton.
Dominic Solanke put the ball into an empty net after Ryan Christie stole the ball from goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, but the Cherries could not hold on as Milos Kerkez scored an own goal to level the scores before the break.
Karou Mitoma came off the bench to score twice and turn the situation in favor of the home team.
Verbruggen held the ball a lot in the first half and was tasked with building Brighton’s play.
The goalkeeper was allowed to hold the ball longer, but Christie chose the right time to block the Dutchman and assist Solanke for the opener.
According to Iraola, who told the Daily Echo that Cherry planned this:
“We know when you come here they will try to expand
“We have a lot of decisions to make.
“We decided to act man-to-man, taking risks, and the only free man was the goalkeeper.
“We have to decide very carefully when to run towards the goalkeeper, otherwise they can easily find a substitute and be eliminated.
“I thought we did really well, not just in that game but throughout the game.
We lost for other reasons.
It took just 15 seconds for Brighton to take the lead in the second half, leaving the Cherries shocked and struggling to find a response.
Iraola continued: “I think we had our chances, especially with Antoine, the two chances he gave us.
“He played very well off the bench.
“It was also the one where they cleared the ball and we had a few chances there.
“But it’s a lot harder, because when they don’t need to attack you, they can hold the ball, draw you in and it will be a lot harder against Brighton once they win.
“For me it was important that we won the first half, we needed to do more damage.
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