AFC Bournemouth’s poor run of form continued, as they were beaten 2-1 by Ipswich Town at the Vitality Stadium.
A Nathan Broadhead strike put the Tractor Boys one goal up at the break, and a rasping finish from Liam Delap doubled their lead early in the second half.
With around twenty minutes left on the clock, Evanilson gave the Cherries hope, tapping into an unguarded net after Alex Palmer fumbled Lewis Cook’s effort.
However, Andoni Iraola’s side struggled to create late chances, and the visitors did enough to ensure they took all three points back to Suffolk.
Bournemouth are now without a win in their last five Premier League matches, and hopes of European football next season are fading quickly.
The Cherries will look to get back on track, with a trip to the Olympic Stadium to face West Ham United on Saturday.
Story of the Match
Iraola made five changes to the side that were beaten by Manchester City on Sunday, as the Cherries exited the FA Cup at the quarter final stage.
Milos Kerkez and Dean Huijsen both returned from suspension, with Adam Smith, Alex Scott and Dango Ouattara also coming into the starting XI. Justin Kluivert was left out of the matchday squad completely, after Iraola said the Dutchman was suffering from fatigue in his pre match press conference.
It was a cagey start to the contest, as the Cherries seemed to be suffering a slight hangover from their efforts three days earlier, against Man City.
However, Iraola’s side started to turn up the heat around a quarter of an hour in, with the Ipswich defence barely managing to divert Ouattara’s low cross away from the lurking Evanilson.
Ouattara continued to cause the visitors problems, cutting inside from the right flank, and sending a powerful strike just over the angle of post and bar.
A frantic passage just after the half hour mark saw Alex Palmer collect a long range Semenyo effort, before Ipswich gave the ball straight back to the Cherries, and Scott had a low shot cleared off the line.
Moments later though, the visitors took the lead. Julio Enciso set off on a mazy run, dragging out five Bournemouth players in the process, before playing in Broadhead. The Welshman cut past a sliding Huijsen, before slipping the ball underneath Kepa and into the back of the net.
With the away fans bouncing, the Tractor Boys continued to apply the pressure. Ben Johnson got on the end of Enciso’s inswinging cross, but couldn’t direct his header on target.
The Cherries were still struggling to create many clear cut chances, and were having to resort to long range pot shots, Cook firing the latest in a long line over the bar with five minutes remaining of the first period.
Ipswich were finding it slightly easier to slice through Bournemouth’s backline, and Jens Cajuste found himself free in the box, but off-balance, he could only shank his shot over the bar.
With his side trailing at the break, Iraola made a half time substitution, Tyler Adams replacing Smith, with Cook moving to right back.
The Cherries came out quickly for the second period, Scott stinging the gloves of Palmer in the opening minutes of the half, before the Ipswich shot stopper easily dealt with a tame effort from Ryan Christie.
As Bournemouth continued to threaten, Iraola made further changes, with Marcos Senesi and David Brooks replacing Scott and Christie.
However, it was Ipswich who struck the next blow, in what was their first attack of the second half. Conor Townsend cut the ball back into the middle of the Bournemouth area, and Delap was first to react, rifling the ball past a helpless Kepa to double the visitors’ lead.
Minutes later it looked as if the home side had been handed a lifeline, referee Robert Jones pointing to the penalty spot as Antoine Semenyo went down, but VAR determined that the original foul was outside the box, and a free kick was awarded instead.
Eventually the lifeline did come for the Cherries. Palmer failed to hold onto Cook’s left footed effort, and Evanilson was on hand to fire into an empty net, and cut the deficit to just one.
As Iraola's side searched for the equaliser, the Spaniard introduced Daniel Jebbison, with Illia Zabarnyi withdrawn.
It wasn't to be for Bournemouth though. Ipswich held firm, and the home side barely had an opening in the final stages.