Andoni Iraola felt Bournemouth knew they could turn around game at QPR

Posted Sunday, January 07, 2024 by PA

Andoni Iraola hailed Bournemouth’s half-time belief after they fought back from two goals down to beat QPR 3-2 and reach the FA Cup fourth round.

Sinclair Armstrong and Lyndon Dykes gave the Championship hosts the advantage at the break.

But strikes from Marcus Tavernier, Kieffer Moore and Justin Kluivert helped the Cherries produce an impressive comeback at Loftus Road.

Iraola said: “We had to play with much more urgency. We were keeping possession without attacking spaces and we were not making the differences.

“Second half we had a higher rhythm and we made the difference. It’s good that we are in a good mental position because we have played good lately.

“I could feel at half-time that we believed it was possible. The mentality of the players was that we can do it. We felt if we improved we would have a chance.”

QPR have struggled defending set-pieces since Marti Cifuentes took over in October.

Iraola lauded the execution of Moore’s equaliser when the striker beat goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and got on the end of Alex Scott’s corner after 58 minutes.

He said: “They’ve struggled with defensive set-pieces and luckily for us our execution was really good and we could score the goals.

“We had a change of attitude and we needed to play in a different way.”

Cifuentes acknowledged his side’s poor set-piece record and that it could be a mental issue.

The Spaniard refused to take aim at 36-year-old Begovic despite the error.

He said: “You don’t have to be a genius to see the stats and that since I’ve been here we’ve conceded 15 goals and 10 of them have been from set-pieces.

“Unfortunately set-pieces have been an issue for a while and we are not getting better so we need the balance. It can be an issue mentally as well.

“The fact we are conceding goals from set-pieces is more than just the keeper, Asmir is a very experienced keeper, he knows how to handle.

“He’s the type of leader who wants to take responsibility. I don’t want to point individually, this is a team task.”