James McFadden felt Rasmus Kristensen was ‘miles away’ to deny AFC Bournemouth ace Dominic Solanke his goal at Leeds United. The forward scored to put the Cherries 3-1 up.
Bournemouth responded to a third-minute penalty from Rodrigo to establish a strong lead early in the second half. Marcus Tavernier got his south coast side level four minutes after they fell behind. Philp Billing and Solanke then built interim coach Gary O’Neil a solid lead.
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Yet Sam Greenwood and a rare effort by Liam Cooper drew the hosts level with two goals in eight minutes. Then up stepped talented 21-year-old Crysencio Summerville to put Jesse Marsch’s side in front. The Dutchman finished a rapid break to lead 4-3 in the 84th minute.
McFadden felt Kristensen was ‘miles away’ as Bournemouth exposed Leeds
Marsch signed Kristensen from RB Salzburg for £10m in June to strengthen Leeds’ options at right-back. Saturday’s match with Bournemouth marked the 25-year-old’s 11th Premier League game for the term. He has only missed one match after sitting out against Fulham.
But McFadden felt Bournemouth were able to expose Leeds on Kristensen’s side of the field for Solanke’s goal. The former Scotland forward waxed lyrical over the forward’s hit, but noted how easily Tavernier could break as Marc Roca tried in vain to close him down.
“What a finish from Solanke,” McFadden gushed on BBC Radio 5 Live. “It’s again down that left-hand side of Bournemouth with Tavernier. Kristensen is miles away, Roca is trying to get back and he fires the ball across.
“It looks like it’s going behind Solanke but he just improvises, clever little back heel into the net. Tremendous finish from Solanke, a devastating break down that left-hand side again.
“When the ball comes in again, Tavernier has got options down the left. Bournemouth have bodies in the box. I thought it was behind him but he actually makes the run so that he can perform the finish like that. It’s a brilliant finish from Solanke.”
Kristensen will want to put Saturday’s win behind him as soon as possible
While Leeds held on to beat Bournemouth, Kristensen will want to put his performance in the rear-view mirror as soon as possible. The Cherries had already benefited from the 10-cap Denmark ace’s poor positioning before catching him out of position for Solanke’s goal.
Tavernier enjoyed regular success getting in behind Kristensen as Bournemouth attacked on their left-hand flank. Marsch will be particularly frustrated to see his summer signing struggle on Saturday having impressed defensively in the Whites’ 2-1 win over Liverpool.
Kristensen was solid throughout the Anfield affair last Saturday. He had also impressed at Crystal Palace last month when tasked with keeping Wilfried Zaha quiet. Yet Marsch would not see the same defensive awareness from the Dane as Tavernier often spun in behind.
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