Cherries pick off West Brom
Eunan O'Kane and Callum Wilson fired Bournemouth to their first-ever Capital One Cup quarter-final as Eddie Howe's men toppled West Brom 2-1 at Dean Court.
Midfielder O'Kane and replacement Wilson helped the Cherries make club history for the second time in four days.
Georgios Samaras' shot took a deflection off Tommy Elphick to gift Albion a late equaliser, only for Wilson to race clear and blast Bournemouth's winner.
Bournemouth thumped Birmingham with a record 8-0 victory to climb to fourth in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday - then dumped out their top-flight opponents to tread new ground in the League Cup.
Both managers lodged their 'concentrating on the league' excuses early, making 10 changes apiece from weekend line-ups.
West Brom boss Alan Irvine wound up needing that get-out card as not even a raft of late substitutes could turn the tide in a lacklustre showing on the south coast.
Bournemouth boss Howe retained only captain Elphick from the eleven that set that new record in demolishing Birmingham.
West Brom chief Irvine kept defender Craig Dawson in from the off, but that was the only familiar face from the side that scrambled a 2-2 Premier League draw with Crystal Palace.
The visitors proved the less interested and inspired in a hectic first half lacking only in gilt-edged chances and goals.
The Cherries took early control in both possession and territory but could not locate that telling final ball.
Dawson's cheap yellow card for hauling down Tokelo Rantie indicated the hosts' growing influence; Adam Smith's mazy run teed up Yann Kermorgant but the striker could not pull the trigger ahead of the block.
Liam O'Neil shaved a free header wide when full contact would have opened the scoring against the run of play for Albion.
Boaz Myhill was forced to parry from Rantie after a Junior Stanislas raid, but still the final touch eluded Howe's men.
Ian Harte used all his 37 years' cunning to drag down Victor Anichebe as the striker shaped to latch onto a fine through-ball.
Sebastian Blanco blasted the free kick high and wide, before Brown Ideye wasted a reasonable chance after Anichebe's slide-rule pass.
Dan Gosling failed to connect with Ryan Fraser's threatening cross when unmarked in the Albion box as the hosts regained their poise.
Youssouf Mulumbu was booked for a professional foul on Rantie as the half drew to a close, but again the hosts were unable to bring fine pressure to bear.
Blanco fired over the bar as Albion opened the second half brightly, but it was the hosts who broke the deadlock.
Stanislas drove through the middle, capitalising on West Brom backing off to thread the ideal ball to O'Kane.
The onrushing midfielder calmly picked his spot and side-footed past a despairing Myhill.
Republic of Ireland Under-21 cap O'Kane's goal was the least Bournemouth deserved for their industry and ingenuity in the face of supposedly-superior opposition.
Albion rallied, through shock if anything, Blanco denied a tap-in by Elphick's sliding block, both the Cherries skipper and referee Paul Tierney waving away lacklustre handball shouts.
Albion were shortly playing down a penalty claim themselves, when Gareth McAuley took Rantie's drive into the midriff.
Bournemouth sustained the pressure, Fraser firing wide after exchanging passes with Smith.
The hosts escaped with a slice of fortune when referee Tierney denied the Baggies a penalty despite keeper Lee Camp seemingly upending Anichebe.
Stephane Sessegnon replaced the ineffectual Ideye for West Brom, with Samaras and Saido Berahino also answering the cavalry call.
Samaras' deflected shot scrambled Albion level against the run of play, with Elphick taking the unwanted credit.
But just when the visitors were wiping the collective brow, Bournemouth broke at pace, and replacement Wilson blasted home to wrestle back the lead.
Source: PA
