Semenyo’s early strike revives Bournemouth’s European dreams in win against Fulham

Antoine Semenyo scored in the opening minute to hand Bournemouth a vital 1-0 victory over Fulham on Monday, boosting their hopes of qualifying for European football next season.

The Ghanaian forward took advantage of an early mistake by Fulham captain Antonee Robinson to net his 10th goal of the season, securing the Cherries’ first Premier League win in seven games. His quick goal was enough to lift Bournemouth above Fulham and Brighton into eighth place on goal difference.

Bournemouth almost extended their lead in the 16th minute when Evanilson hit the crossbar. Despite Fulham’s efforts to equalise, including a header from Ryan Sessegnon that went straight to goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, the hosts managed to hold firm.

Before this game, Bournemouth had collected just two points from a possible 18, falling into poor form after a 3-1 win over Southampton back in February. But against Fulham, they struck early. Alex Scott led a counter-attack after a loose pass from Timothy Castagne, and when Robinson failed to deal with the ball, Semenyo quickly stepped in, cut inside Joachim Andersen, and curled his shot into the bottom-left corner.

Evanilson’s close-range effort rattled the crossbar in what was an exciting first half. Manager Andoni Iraola replaced Marcos Senesi with Illia Zabarnyi at the break, and Tyler Adams nearly added a second goal ten minutes into the second half, but Fulham keeper Bernd Leno blocked it with his legs.

Fulham boss Marco Silva responded with three changes, bringing on Tom Cairney, Adama Traore, and Raul Jimenez, while Sessegnon, Sander Berge, and Rodrigo Muiz made way. The visitors kept pushing for an equaliser as Alex Iwobi forced a save from Kepa, and Sasa Lukic also tested the Bournemouth keeper.

Late in the game, Bournemouth had a penalty appeal waved off after VAR confirmed that Leno got his fingertips on the ball when Evanilson went down in the box.

After seven tense minutes of added time, Bournemouth held on for a well-deserved win — their first home victory since a 5-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest in January.

Speaking after the match, Semenyo told Sky Sports, “All season long we have been grinding and beating the top six teams. This little phase we are going through, losing and drawing, every team goes through that but that is why this win is so important. I feel like what we have done this year we do definitely deserve the European places.”