Bournemouth kept their European hopes alive with a hard-fought 1-0 win against Fulham in Monday’s Premier League clash.
Ghanaian forward Antoine Semenyo scored the only goal of the match just one minute in, taking advantage of a mistake by Fulham captain Antonee Robinson to curl in his 10th goal of the season.
It was a much-needed victory for Bournemouth, who had gone six games without a win. The result lifts them to 8th place on the Premier League table, just ahead of Fulham and Brighton on goal difference.
Bournemouth nearly doubled their lead in the 16th minute when striker Evanilson hit the crossbar. Tyler Adams also came close after the break, but Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno blocked his shot with his legs.
Fulham had a few chances to equalise. Ryan Sessegnon headed straight at Bournemouth’s goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, while Kepa also denied efforts from Alex Iwobi and Sasa Lukic.
Manager Marco Silva made several changes in the second half, bringing on Tom Cairney, Adama Traore, and Raul Jimenez, but his team couldn’t break through Bournemouth’s defence.
There was late drama when Evanilson went down in the box, but VAR ruled that Leno got a fingertip to the ball, denying Bournemouth a penalty.
The Cherries held firm through seven minutes of added time to seal their first home win since January.
Speaking after the match, Semenyo said:
"We've beaten top teams this season. Every team has tough spells, but this win is huge. We believe we deserve a European spot."
With five games left, Bournemouth’s push for a place in Europe is back on track.
