The remainder of Bournemouth’s season is Andoni Iraola’s farewell parade and this was another vital point as they edge towards what could be an extraordinary achievement.
Billionaire Bill Foley has held ambitions to take this little club on the south coast to Europe since he took over in 2022 and Iraola has made what seemed a fanciful dream a distinct possibility as he prepares to hand over the reins to Marco Rose. But they are not there yet.
Seven minutes into stoppage time they had the lead for three points to move sixth in the table, only for Leeds United’s Sean Longstaff to hit a sweet volley through a wall of bodies to share a point each.
The difficulty of a manager announcing they will leave before the end of the season can be a drop in focus and motivation, but Bournemouth showed there remains plenty of fight as they came through a difficult evening against an in-form Leeds side enjoying a memorable season of their own, almost certain of staying up and with an FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.
The first-half stalemate was perhaps to be expected from a game between a Bournemouth side unbeaten in six home games and a visiting Leeds team unbeaten in five games on the road – their longest unbeaten away run in 25 years.
There was a hint of nervous tension to the match, too. Both sides still have plenty to play for. Bournemouth have never played in Europe and to qualify this season – after years of selling star after star – would be momentous, and a fitting sign-off for departing manager Andoni Iraola.
They can still remember vividly here how close they were to dropping out of the Football League in 2009 – a video of the goal Steven Fletcher scored to keep them in League Two was played on the big screens before kick-off and the striker was given a standing ovation when he was invited onto the pitch.
Still, for all the talk of how well Bournemouth have played under Iraola – and he has quite rightly drawn praise for his easy-on-the-eye style – most of their threatening moments in the first half came from the long throws of defender James Hill. Four times the centre-back jogged across to the touchline to hurl the ball into the six-yard box.
Karl Darlow, the Leeds goalkeeper, struggled to deal with them, and when one was only partially cleared, the ball was nodded back over the Leeds defence and Evanilson came close with an acrobatic volley.
Leeds had Darlow to thank for keeping them level just before the break. Bournemouth’s Ryan Christie was free at the back post but the goalkeeper stuck out a desperate leg to keep out his shot. When the ball was crossed back in, Marcus Tavernier hooked inches wide.
Back-to-back wins against Manchester United and Wolves had pulled Leeds to the brink of safety, but they are not quite there yet.
Finally, that Iraola football started flowing in the second half and 15 minutes played almost solidly at the Leeds end forced a breakthrough. Marcos Senesi carried the ball from halfway and played in Junior Kroupi to score his 11th goal of the season.
Bournemouth will miss Iraola when he’s gone, but if their recruitment team can keep unearthing rare talent ahead of anyone else, they will be in a good place. Kroupi is yet more evidence of that finely-tuned system: the 19-year-old was signed from Lorient to little fanfare a little over a year ago yet his statistics this season have frequently been compared to Barcelona’s teen sensation Lamine Yamal.
Unforgivably, though, Bournemouth let Leeds back into the game. Two minutes after taking the lead, Hill lost the ball, letting Noah Okafor through on goal, and the in-form forward’s clever dink hit the post. Six minutes later they were level, another long throw playing a significant part. Ethan Ampadu launched the ball into Bournemouth’s box and they were unable to clear, despite multiple attempts.
When Wilfried Gnonto sent in a low hard cross, Hill sent the ball into his own net. Iraola sent on Tyler Adams and Rayan and they combined to score with five minutes remaining. Bournemouth thought they had done enough, until Longstaff struck in deepest stoppage time.