AFC Bournemouth cruised to a comfortable 3-1 victory over their south coast compatriots Southampton, in a dominant display under the lights at the Vitality Stadium.
Evanilson opened the scoring in the 17th minute for the Cherries, latching onto a clever Marcus Tavernier free kick, before Dango Ouattara deflected Lewis Cook’s shot past Aaron Ramsdale to double the lead.
Antoine Semenyo made it three soon after, using a superb bit of skill to find some space on the edge of the box before burying his strike into the bottom corner.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis gave the Saints a glimmer of hope just after the interval, nodding a header past Kepa Arrizabalaga in the Bournemouth goal to reduce the deficit to two.
However, the away side were unable to provide any other real danger to the Cherries goal, and despite not being at their free-flowing best throughout, Andoni Iraola’s side came away with all three points.
The result moves Bournemouth up to 11th in the Premier League, ahead of their trip to Leicester City next weekend.
Cherries boss Andoni Iraola made three changes from Bournemouth’s 3-0 defeat to Liverpool last weekend, with Adam Smith, Marcos Senesi and Dango Ouattara coming in for Dean Huijsen, Julian Araujo and Justin Kluivert.
Iraola was forced to watch the match from the director’s box however, serving a one match suspension as a result of picking up three yellow cards already this campaign.
Ryan Fraser was public enemy number one from the first minute, receiving a barrage of abuse from Cherries fans after his unceremonious departure from the club in 2020, and the winger stung the palms of Kepa as Southampton found themselves on top in the early stages.
It was Bournemouth who took the lead however, completely against the run of play, Marcus Tavernier clipping a quick free kick through to Evanilson who finished superbly into the bottom corner.
Despite failing to really click into top gear after the opening goal, Bournemouth found themselves two goals to the good just after the half hour mark, Ouattara deflecting Cook’s goalbound effort past the helpless Aaron Ramsdale.
It wasn’t long before Dean Court erupted once more, this time to celebrate a superb Antoine Semenyo finish, twisting and turning on the edge of the box before expertly drilling his shot into the bottom corner.
Southampton came out for the second half fighting however, Harwood-Bellis flicking a header past Kepa’s outstretched arms to reduce the deficit, just seconds after the Spaniard had superbly denied Jan Bednarek.
The Cherries responded well to the setback, first Semenyo and then Evanilson going close as the game opened up, with the away side searching for a route back into the match.
Ten minutes from time Bournemouth almost had a fourth, Ryan Christie hitting a delicious volley that whistled just inches past the post, with Ramsdale beaten.
The Saints probed in the final period of the game, but were unable to break down a resilient Cherries defence and provide any real threat to the final scoreline.