Bournemouth ended a six-game winless league run with a 1-0 home victory over Fulham as Antoine Semenyo’s goal inside the opening minute reignited their hopes of European qualification.
Semenyo capitalised on Antonee Robinson’s mistake to arrow a low finish into the bottom corner after just 53 seconds at the Vitality Stadium.
It proved to be the difference between the two European-chasing sides as Bournemouth leapfrogged Fulham into eighth on goal difference, with the top eight likely to be enough to qualify for Europe unless Crystal Palace win the FA Cup.
Following the victory, match-winner Semenyo revealed Cherries boss Andoni Iraola had billed the game as “make-or-break” for their season.
The 25-year-old told Sky Sports: “The win was definitely vital for us. The manager has been saying all week that it is a make-or-break game for us.
“We came into the game wanting to give our all and you could see at the end in the celebrations that it meant a lot. It has been a tough couple of weeks, but it is good to be back on the board.”
Bournemouth’s lightning-quick start nearly rewarded them with two goals as Evanilson struck the bar from close range in the 17th minute. It was the 21st time the south coast side have struck the woodwork in the Premier League this season, more than any other side.
But Fulham missed two glorious chances to equalise before half-time. First, Rodrigo Muniz dragged a shot wide in the 31st minute after a defensive mix-up between Bournemouth centre-backs Dean Huijsen and Marcos Senesi, who were starting a league game together for the first time.
Just six minutes later, the unmarked Ryan Sessegnon headed straight at Bournemouth goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Marco Silva’s side continued to push for an equaliser in the second half, and the Fulham head coach’s frustrations increased following confusion around a triple substitution which saw Sessegnon taken off by mistake.
Silva confirmed to Sky Sports after the game that he wanted to bring off left-back Robinson, blaming a “lack of communication” between the fourth official and his staff for Sessegnon incorrectly coming off for Adama Traore.
The Cherries then weathered the Fulham pressure to hold on for a first win in nine games in all competitions, which catapults them back into European contention and levels their highest Premier League points tally with 48 points.
Iraola: Win comes at ‘perfect moment’
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola speaking to Sky Sports:
“Very pleased with the performance. I think we needed this performance, to defend our own box well, the clearances, the blocks, the basics, the set plays.
Semenyo gives Bournemouth the lead
“To finish with a clean sheet is so valuable because normally offensively when we create chances we score goals, defensively where we have lacked something in recent games, and today we were very good defensively.
“This win comes in the perfect moment. Next week we have another of these games against Crystal Palace away, same as Fulham they are playing very well so let’s recover well, recover some of the players that we have and arrive in a good spot.
“Every result is going to be key. The standings have been really close in the last few months.
“I don’t think we have an easy schedule so we have to be very good.”
Silva: First 25 minutes cost us
Fulham head coach Marco Silva speaking to Sky Sports:
“In the first minute, we conceded a really sloppy goal, but we had 95 minutes more to play and change things.
“We knew in the first minutes it was important to take simple and right decisions, simple decisions. The first 25 minutes showed we were not at the level. You have to reach the same intensity as the other side.
“The reaction after that was good and we had chances to equalise. The second half we controlled the game and we pushed them back. Kepa took some time to go down at least three times, all that stuff, to break our momentum.
“We threw everything away with our first 25 minutes.”
