Bournemouth vs Fulham. Premier League.
Vitality StadiumAttendance10,305.
Match report and free highlights as Bournemouth rise to 15th in the Premier League table after fighting back to beat Fulham 2-1 on the south coast; Marcus Tavernier and Dominic Solanke scored second-half goals for Cherries after Andreas Pereira gave Fulham the lead early in the first half
Saturday 1 April 2023 20:42, UK
Bournemouth moved out of the Premier League relegation zone after coming from behind to earn a vital 2-1 win over Fulham at the Vitality Stadium.
Andreas Pereira opened the scoring for Fulham in the 16th minute when he finished off a well-worked move, but Bournemouth hit back when substitute Marcus Tavernier's sensational strike found the top corner five minutes into the second half.
In an entertaining contest with chances at both ends, it was the hosts who found a winner when Dominic Solanke bundled the ball across the line via an Antonee Robinson deflection 11 minutes before full-time.
The result sees Bournemouth rise to 15th and move two points above the bottom three with 10 games to play. Fulham are 10th, four points behind seventh-placed Brentford and sixth-placed Brighton.
Fulham were without suspended duo Willian and Aleksandar Mitrovic following their red cards in the ill-tempered FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Manchester United, but the visitors were still comfortably the better team in the first half and took just 16 minutes to take the lead.
Willian's replacement Manor Solomon broke free down the left before cutting the ball back for Harrison Reed to tee up Pereira, who fired home his first Premier League goal since November. The lead could have been doubled seven minutes later when Antonee Robinson rattled the crossbar from 22 yards out.
It took until the 31st minute for Bournemouth to create a meaningful chance as Dango Ouattarra guided a left-footed shot just wide after neat combination play from Solanke and Philip Billing.
Pereira's acrobatic overhead kick had Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto momentarily concerned before the Argentinian's opposite number Bernd Leno produced a smart save with his legs to deny Solanke.
Bournemouth boss Gary O'Neil summoned the fit-again Tavernier and Ryan Christie off the bench at half-time and his side were much improved in the second half.
Tavernier, sidelined by injury since February, took just five minutes to make his mark with a stunning equaliser. Leno looked to have got enough distance on his punch away from a corner only for Tavernier to pick up the loose ball before cutting in from the right and curling an unstoppable left-footed shot into the top corner from 20 yards out.
Tavenier came close to claiming his and the Cherries' second moments later when the suddenly overworked Leno spread himself to block the former Middlesbrough man's near-post effort.
Jefferson Lerma then saw his attempt from midway inside the penalty area diverted onto the roof of the net as Fulham found themselves firmly under the cosh, and Bournemouth took a deserved lead 11 minutes from time courtesy of a scruffy strike from Solanke.
Ryan Christie's initial low shot was parried out by Leno and Solanke was on hand to bundle the rebound over the line from point-blank range for his fourth goal in five career appearances against Fulham.
Fulham used all five of their available substitutes but never threatened to deny Bournemouth their victory and the defeat is a significant dent to their hopes of European qualification.
Bournemouth head coach Gary O'Neil: "I felt that energy in the dressing room that even if we went 1-0 down today there would be a refusal to lose that football match.
"We're so determined to get to where we want to get to. It was impressive from my players."
On Tavernier's stunning strike, O'Neil said: "I don't want to big him up too much because I don't want anyone to come and take him but he's a good footballer.
"At top clubs you have players who are gifted technically and players that are gifted physically. Marcus Tavernier has both.
"It was an incredible goal. I can't believe we needed a strike that good to score. It was a big goal."
Fulham head coach Marco Silva: "It was so good how we started the game and how we controlled the first half.
"We had a clear plan and the players took this plan, but we just had a lack of killer instinct to score the second goal.
"The second half was completely different and difficult to understand.
"We prepared the players for what was coming and we knew that we had to start really strong in the second half and we didn't do it.
"We have to analyse why this happens because we can't show two faces like we did today."
Bournemouth are back in action at 7.45pm on Tuesday night when they host Brighton in a south-coast derby. The Cherries then travel to Leicester and Tottenham on the following two Saturdays at 3pm.
Fulham's next three fixtures are against more relegation-threatened sides. They host West Ham at 3pm next Saturday, travel to Everton the weekend after, and then welcome Leeds to Craven Cottage on April 22.
