Soccer Football - Premier League - AFC Bournemouth v Fulham - Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, Britain - April 14, 2025 AFC Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo scores their first goal Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO USE WITH UNAUTHORIZED AUDIO, VIDEO, DATA, FIXTURE LISTS, CLUB/LEAGUE LOGOS OR 'LIVE' SERVICES. ONLINE IN-MATCH USE LIMITED TO 120 IMAGES, NO VIDEO EMULATION. NO USE IN BETTING, GAMES OR SINGLE CLUB/LEAGUE/PLAYER PUBLICATIONS. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE FOR FURTHER DETAILS..
BOURNEMOUTH, England (Reuters) -Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo scored inside the first minute as they ended a run of eight games without a victory thanks to a 1-0 Premier League home win over Fulham on Monday, a result that reignites their hopes of European football next season.
Bournemouth climb above Fulham and into eighth place on goal difference, with both sides on 48 points from 32 games.
The decisive moment came after 53 seconds when Fulham's Antonee Robinson failed to intercept a pass to Semenyo, who cut inside from the right flank before firing a low shot into the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the box.
Bournemouth also hit the post through Evanilson as they claimed a first home win since January, while Fulham slipped to a third away league defeat in a row. Both teams are six points off Aston Villa who occupy the final guaranteed European spot.
"The win was definitely vital for us," Semenyo told Sky Sports. "The manager (Andoni Iraola) 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."
Fulham enjoyed almost 60% possession and had more than twice as many shots on target but could not force an equaliser.
"It's our fault we lost today. The first 20 minutes we were not at our level, we were lucky it was just 1-0," Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno said. "Second half we tried everything and were much better but Bournemouth defended well.
"We are still in a good position and in a good moment, even with defeat today. We are still in touch to go to Europe."
After Semenyo’s opener, Bournemouth should have made it 2-0 as Alex Scott's cushioned header at the back post fell perfectly for Evanilson, whose close-range shot clattered the bar.
Fulham should have equalised when Alex Iwobi’s tantalising cross found an unmarked Ryan Sessegnon but his free header was straight at keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga with the goal at his mercy.
Iwobi tested the reflexes of Kepa with a curling shot from the edge of the box before Bournemouth had a penalty appeal.
Evanilson latched onto a misjudged pass from Calvin Bassey, but Leno got a hand to the ball as the striker went to ground while attempting to round him.
The VAR agreed with referee Michael Oliver that there had been no foul but Bournemouth had done enough to take the points.
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Ken Ferris)
