AFC Bournemouth 2-0 Leeds United: result and report

The Pundit picked AFC Bournemouth (51%): correct

Report

AFC Bournemouth beat Leeds United 2-0 because they did more with their shots. Still, the two-goal margin makes the afternoon look more comfortable than it was.

Evanilson put Bournemouth ahead on 31 minutes after a pass from Justin Kluivert. That lead held until the fourth minute of stoppage time, when Amine Adli made it 2-0 from Junior Kroupi's assist. So for more than an hour, Leeds were one goal from a draw.

The real difference was shooting, not chance volume. Expected goals were almost level, 1.03 to 0.99, while Bournemouth put five of their eight shots on target and Leeds managed one from five. The goalkeepers' workloads tell the same story. The Leeds keeper made three saves, while his Bournemouth counterpart needed only one.

Leeds were not short of the ball, though. They had 56% possession and 39 dangerous attacks to Bournemouth's 22. Their sustained pressure across the match was also higher. But that territory rarely produced a clean look at goal. Bournemouth made nine key passes to Leeds' five, which suggests the home side created the more incisive openings despite seeing less of the ball.

The one counter-signal sits in the big-chance count. Bournemouth had two and missed neither. Leeds had one and missed it. With the expected-goals totals that close, that single miss is a large part of why the gap reads 2-0 rather than something tighter. The late second goal then removed any doubt.