Bournemouth seal 3-2 comeback win against Nottingham Forest after 87th-minute winner from Anthony

Updated: May 17, 2023, 04:54 am

Jaidon Anthony came off the bench to give Bournemouth a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest as they bounced back from two goals down in a thrilling clash of the newly-promoted sides in the Premier League on Saturday.

Cheikhou Kouyate and Brennan Johnson gave Forest a 2-0 lead at halftime but Bournemouth produced a terrific performance in the second half, rallying through goals from Philip Billing, Dominic Solanke and Anthony.

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With the score at 2-2, Anthony scored the winning goal in the 87th minute as he coolly side-footed past Forest goalkeeper Dean Henderson following a pass from Solanke.

The victory came as a relief to Bournemouth, who played out a goalless draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers in their last game and were thrashed 9-0 by Liverpool last week, which led to the sacking of Scott Parker.

"Going in at 2-0 was a real blow for us," Bournemouth interim manager Gary O'Neil told the BBC.

"The boys still believed, made a few changes and dug in. [I'm] proud of what we achieved.

"It has been a whirlwind... last four, five days and the staff still here have been so good for me."

Senegal midfielder Kouyate put Forest in the lead in the 33rd minute as he rose highest in the box to power home a header from Morgan Gibbs-White's corner kick.

Forest doubled their lead before the break when forward Johnson scored an ice-cool penalty, following a lengthy VAR review after a handball incident by Bournemouth skipper Lloyd Kelly.

Bournemouth responded quickly in the second half, with central midfielder Billing finding the target in the 51st minute with a stunning strike from around 30 yards out.

Forest wasted a chance to add a third goal and it proved costly as striker Solanke made it 2-2 for Bournemouth in the 63rd minute, pulling off a superb acrobatic effort which flew into the net via a slight deflection off Scott McKenna.

Free-spending Forest, who suffered their third straight league defeat, dropped into the relegation zone in 18th spot on four points.

"We were good for the 2-0 lead in the first half... We were comfortable but it was a really poor first goal to concede and it set the tone," Forest manager Steve Cooper said. "We looked like two different teams.

"The performance in the second half cost us the game... For large parts of the second half it was not good enough but we have to take it on the chin."