Bournemouth moved out of the Premier League relegation zone as a second-half comeback saw them beat Fulham 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium.
Marcus Tavernier and Dominic Solanke scored the goals in a much improved second-half performance from the hosts.
Fulham were the better team in the first half, with Andreas Pereira opening the scoring on the 16th minute.
They couldn’t continue their fine first-half display though, which resulted in them losing for the 4th time in as many games.
Bournemouth named an unchanged line-up for the 3rd consecutive game as they looked to make it back-to-back home wins following their impressive 1-0 win over Liverpool last time out at the Vitality Stadium.
As for Fulham, Joao Palhinha returned to the side after missing the Cottagers last two Premier League games due to suspension. However it wasn’t all positive news as both Willian and top-scorer Aleksander Mitrovic were both sent off in last week’s dramatic 3-1 FA cup quarter final defeat at Old Trafford, meaning they were both unavailable today through suspension.
The Cherries started the game in the relegation zone but a win would see them more than likely climb out of the bottom 3, meanwhile Marco Silva’s side started the day in 9th and were looking to make sure they avoided their 4th consecutive defeat in all competitions.
An even start to the game saw both sides fail to establish any real control, and as the clock hit the 15th minute, no chances of any note had been created from either team.
Fulham then started to dominate possession, playing through the lack-lustre Bournemouth press with ease, every time. Gary O’Neil’s side looked to play on the counter attack, withDango Ouattara looking like their main threat.
Andreas Pereira put Fulham ahead on the 16th minute, following more brilliant build up play out from the back. Carlos Vinicius controlled the ball on the Fulham left hand side and thenplayed it in behind to the pacey Manor Solomon, who squared it to Harrison Reed and his lay off found Pereira who slotted home into the bottom left corner from 15 yards out.
The away side continued to dominate the game, which saw the Home crowd begin to get very frustrated. Bernd Leno was still yet to make a save in the game with over half an hour played, as Bournemouth just were not at the races.
The only chances of the match were coming the way of Fulham, with full back AntoneeRobinson striking the bar with a thunderous shot from the edge of the Bournemouth penalty area.
The hosts finally mustered up their first chance of the game in the 31st minute, when Dominic Solanke was played in on the left hand side. He cut the ball back to Philip Billing, who took a loose touch that fell to Ouattara 12 yards out, but he failed to hit the target.
Solanke, Billling and Ouattara were involved again a few minutes later, which saw Billing have a shot saved by Leno, the ball then fell to Ouattara who somehow managed to hit the crossbar from 5 yards out. Fortunately for him the offside flag went up to spare his blushes.
HALF TIME- Bournemouth 0-1 Fulham.
O’Neil made two subs at half time as he looked to improve the Cherries poor first half performance.
The subs seemed to work instantly as Bournemouth came out a totally different side and managed to score an equaliser 5 minutes into the second half.
A third successive Bournemouth corner resulted in the ball being cleared to the edge of the box, where half-time sub Marcus Tavernier collected it, faced up his man, cut inside on his left foot and curled a sensational strike into the top right corner!
The home pressure continued following the goal, with Leno being forced into some big savesin order to keep the score level.
The game eventually calmed down after the lively start to the second period, with both teams making changes as they searched for the winning goal in the last 20 minutes.
As the game was about to enter the final 10 minutes, Jefferson Lerma produced a brilliant pass into Ryan Christie who found himself one-on-one with the Fulham keeper, he shot left-footed, which was saved by the leg of Leno, but Solanke was on hand to bundle home from a yard out to score his 5th goal of the season.
Marco Silva’s team tried to apply some late pressure but were ineffective, as Bournemouth held out for a vital 3 points.
FULL TIME- Bournemouth 2-1 Fulham.
The win for the Cherries sees them climb out of the relegation zone and up to 15th in the table.
Worryingly, the defeat for the away side means they lose 3 League games in a row for the first time this season.