Bournemouth cruise to a 3-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in Sunday’s Premier League fixture at the Vitality Stadium.
Bournemouth have cruised to a 3-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in Sunday’s Premier League fixture at the Vitality Stadium.
The Cherries went into the contest looking to make it a club-record six-game unbeaten run in the Premier League at their home ground and they came through with minimal fuss on the South coast.
Marcos Senesi, Enes Unal and Junior Kluivert all got on the scoresheet to also move Bournemouth onto a club-record points total in the Premier League.
Success for Andoni Iraola‘s side has moved them back into 10th position in the standings, while Brighton are 12th, four points adrift of their latest opponents with a game in hand.
Bournemouth take advantage of Brighton changes
There were notable selections in each of the starting lineups. Unal was brought in for his first Bournemouth start, starting on the right flank, while Roberto De Zerbi made as many as seven alterations to his Brighton XI, handing first Premier League starts to Odel Offiah and Mark O’Mahony.
So many alterations did not benefit Brighton in the early stages as Bournemouth had the better of the game, the hosts backing up that control with an opening goal in the 13th minute.
An inswinging corner was flicked goalwards and Senesi was on hand to power a header into the net from close range, recording his fourth strike of the campaign.
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Although both teams would proceed to have numerous shots on goal throughout the first half, efforts on target were few and far between, with Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers having to be alert to deny Facundo Buonanotte at his near post in what was the other notable clear-cut opportunity.
Simon Adingra also headed over at the back post after meeting a Pascal Gross delivery, but Bournemouth were deservedly in front at the break.
Brighton unable to post second-half response
De Zerbi reacted at half time by introducing Danny Welbeck, yet just seven minutes had passed by in the second period before Unal doubled Bournemouth’s lead.
After being teed up to deliver a cross, Dango Ouattara floated over a hanging cross that was perfect for Unal at the back post, the attacker rising high above the Brighton defence to send a header into the far corner from 10 yards.
Before this fixture, Unal had accumulated just 151 minutes across 12 substitute outings in the Premier League since his January move, so it came as no surprise that he was withdrawn after 67 minutes, to a standing ovation.
Either side of his withdrawal, Brighton had showed signs of life as they bid to remain competitive. Joao Pedro could only head off target after meeting a cross, while Julio Enciso fired wide soon after his introduction into the contest.
However, with three minutes left, the three points were confirmed. Kluivert got behind Valentin Barco and cut inside Lewis Dunk before firing the ball with power into the net from inside the area.
While European qualification may soon become out of Bournemouth’s reach, they now sit just one point adrift of eighth-placed West Ham United, a clear indication of the progress that had been made under Iraola.
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