Talking points from Burnley 0-2 AFC Bournemouth

Cherries have a better record on the road than at Vitality Stadium under Andoni Iraola.

Across league and cup, Cherries have been beaten just six times in 16 away games this term, winning seven.

They triumphed 2-0 against struggling Burnley at Turf Moor thanks to an early Justin Kluivert goal and late Antoine Semenyo strike.

Between was plenty of good stuff from the Clarets, without the killer edge to get back into the game.

Here are a few talking points from the match in Lancashire.

Change of approach

Much of Cherries’ success this season has come from not giving the opposition’s goalkeeper and defence a moment’s peace and being a real nuisance to play against.

That was evident in recent impressive performances, away at Newcastle United and at home against Manchester City.

But there was a tweak to the way Iraola approached Burnley.

The Clarets dominated possession, with 75 per cent of the ball in each half.

But, as the Spaniard explained, he was more than happy with goalkeeper James Trafford having the ball at his feet.

• Pundit outlines ‘obvious tactic’ Cherries deployed to beat Burnley

“One thing is to be less aggressive and wait a little bit lower, that it was what we decided,” Iraola told the Daily Echo.

“To not be as aggressive jumping to Trafford except when we saw the clear chance.

“It’s difficult to press Burnley because they use Trafford very well.

“So sometimes it's not even enough to go man-to-man and you have to take very risky positions if you want be as aggressive as we've been in the last games.

“So we decided that they will have the ball there (with Trafford), but we were not reading well (in the first half) whenever we are not as aggressive they will try to play more direct.”

The plan was then more built around engaging the press once Trafford had released the ball.

Cherries managed to nip in a couple of times and force the young goalkeeper into some mistakes, as the home crowd got on his back.

It was not the prettiest watch at times, but as Lewis Cook told the Daily Echo after the game: “Delighted with not playing the best and getting the win like that.

“I think in past seasons we may have not won that. I’m delighted because I think the big teams do that. They don’t play very well sometimes and get the result.

“It’s a massive three points. We knew we needed it.”

Taking the chance

A lot of talk ahead of this fixture was about Cherries’ profligacy in front of goal.

Iraola’s side had notched just five goals across the previous six fixtures before heading to Turf Moor, despite firing in numerous shots.

The evidence was no clearer than the disappointing home defeat to Leicester City in the FA Cup a few days earlier, where Cherries had 27 shots, but only got four on target and none went into the net.

In the build-up to the weekend, Iraola insisted it was not as straightforward as going to the training ground and “okay let’s shoot 200 today and 200 times tomorrow”.

Instead, he insisted it was more down to having composure when the chances came and not just presuming another would be around the corner.

Iraola said: “It is a matter of valuing each chance, each shot and giving the importance to every control.

“At the high level, you don’t have a chance every five minutes.

“You have maybe one and if you are lucky and playing well, maybe you have another and maybe your teammate has another.

“So every time you are close to their box and you are confident enough to shoot, you have to value it’s importance.”

Cherries were on the back foot early on against Burnley, but pounced and took the lead on 13 minutes.

And it seemed Kluivert was very much listening to the above message.

The Dutchman calmly brought the ball under control, cutting inside defender Dara O’Shea before ruthlessly powering home to break the deadlock.

Semenyo went on to double the tally, which highlighted another key factor of Cherries not solely relying on Dominic Solanke for goals.

• Iraola: Solanke not fully sharp but Cherries grateful to have him back available

While the striker overcame a knee issue to start, it was goals from elsewhere which did the job, something midfielder Alex Scott highlighted after the loss to Leicester.

He said: “I think as good as he is, we can't just rely on Dom every week.

“It's down to us as players, midfielders, defenders chipping in with goals as well.

“We can't just keep relying on Dom get us out of games, and win us games.

“We're happy when he does it, but, we've got to be better.”

Cherries had 10 shots at Turf Moor, three on target and two finding the net.

Return of Mepham

This feels like a tale which has been told so many times in Chris Mepham’s Cherries career.

After a good run in the side, he finds himself back on the bench again before being thrust into action.

And, more often than not, he will thrive and show what a reliable deputy he is.

Having not featured at all since the 4-0 defeat by Liverpool on January 21, Mepham was hurriedly called into an early warm-up at Turf Moor after centre-back Marcos Senesi went down inside 12 minutes.

The Wales international duly came on to partner Illia Zabarnyi and looked solid in helping see out the clean sheet.

Speaking about Mepham’s lack of game-time when asked on Friday, Iraola said: “For me, this situation is difficult, because Meps is training well, he is pushing a lot, but also I am very happy with Marcos and Zaba.

“It is not fair for Chris. But I am the one who takes the decision and the one to blame, because he is training well.”

That level in training clearly held the 26-year-old in good stead when he came on against Burnley.

• ‘Very bad moment’ – Iraola confirms Senesi suffered hamstring injury at Burnley

Discussing Mepham’s performance at Turf Moor, Iraola said: “It is very difficult when you are on the bench and probably don’t have time to warm up, because it was quite clear he (Senesi) got injured and straightaway, without much warm-up, he (Mepham) was on.

“I think he dealt very well with the situation. We finished with a clean sheet.

“I think it is going to be good also for his confidence. I hope he can continue with the level he did (on Sunday).”

With James Hill and Lloyd Kelly still out injured, Mepham could be set for an important role again in the next couple of weeks, if Senesi is missing for a while with his hamstring concern.

What caught your eye from the win at Turf Moor? Let us know in the comments below.