Andoni Iraola may be on his farewell parade but it has not dimmed his passion as he edged Bournemouth one more point closer to what could yet be an extraordinary achievement in his final five weeks.
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 Iraola was left furious despite extending their unbeaten run to 14 Premier League games, which is unmatched across any of Europe’s top five leagues.
The highest they have ever finished is seventh but seven minutes into stoppage time they had the lead against Leeds for three points to move sixth in the table, only for Sean Longstaff to hit a volley through a wall of bodies to snatch a point .
Iraola was convinced Joël Piroe was offside when Longstaff struck the ball and blocked the view of his goalkeeper, Djordje Petrovic. “I’m very angry, I’m disappointed, I’m frustrated,” Iraola said.
He spoke to the referee Michael Salisbury afterwards but felt it was hard to call in real time and that the video assistant referee should have intervened. “But we are not going to get back the two points,” he said. “It’s very difficult right now to accept this.”
They sit seventh, but anyone from Brighton, Chelsea, Brentford, Everton, Sunderland and even Fulham can still realistically secure Europa League or Conference League football.
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.
With so much to play for, there was a hint of nervous tension to the match. Bournemouth have never played in Europe and to qualify this season – after years of selling star after star – would be momentous.
They can still remember vividly here how close they came 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 on to 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 long throws.
Finally, however, 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 is 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.
So, too, is Rayan, the teenage Brazilian, signed in January and already looking like another amazing find, who came off the bench to score what Bournemouth thought was a winner with five minutes remaining.
But twice Bournemouth unforgivably let Leeds back into the game. Leeds levelled in the 68th minute – 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, James Hill sent the ball into his own net.
And while Longstaff’s strike was well hit, Bournemouth should not have conceded so late in the game. It was a point that edged Leeds, now nine points above the bottom three, towards a significant feat of their own.
The Leeds manager, Daniel Farke, said he was “confident” they would stay up. “We’re on 40 points; we’re seven games unbeaten. For us it’s a priceless point.”
