Andoni Iraola felt victory got here on the “excellent second” for Bournemouth, as they boosted their European hopes with a 1-0 win over Fulham.
The Cherries ended a run of six successive Premier League video games with out a win, as Antoine Semenyo’s early strike secured all three factors on the Vitality Stadium.
Bournemouth subsequently changed Fulham in eighth place through a superior purpose distinction, and moved inside six factors of Aston Villa in seventh with six video games remaining.
Iraola’s facet had been in rivalry for the Champions League locations till their droop in type, however the head coach was thrilled by his gamers’ response.
“Very, more than happy with the efficiency,” he advised Sky Sports activities. “I feel we wanted this efficiency, defending our personal field effectively, the clearances, the blocks, the fundamentals, the set-plays.
“To complete with a clear sheet is so invaluable as a result of, usually, once we create probabilities, we rating targets. Defensively is the place we now have lacked one thing in latest video games, and immediately we had been excellent.
“This win comes on the excellent second for us. Subsequent week, we now have one other of those video games in opposition to Crystal Palace [on Saturday]. Like Fulham, they’re enjoying very effectively, so let’s get well effectively and arrive in a great place.
“The standings have been actually shut in the previous few months, so each result’s going to be key.”
Semenyo, who scored his eighth Premier League purpose of the season, believes Bournemouth are deserving of a spot in Europe subsequent season, and highlighted the significance of the victory.
“The win was undoubtedly important for us,” he mentioned. “The supervisor has been saying all week that it’s a make-or-break sport for us.
“We got here into the sport wanting to present our all, and you possibly can see on the finish – within the celebrations – that it meant so much. Glad to get the three factors. It has been a tricky couple of weeks, however it’s good to be again on the board.
“All season lengthy, we now have been grinding and beating the highest six groups. This little part we’re going via, dropping and drawing, each crew goes via that, however that’s the reason this win is so essential.
“I really feel like what we now have executed this 12 months, we do undoubtedly deserve [to be in] the European locations.”
We’ve got now equalled our all-time @premierleague factors file
We preserve shiftingpic.twitter.com/F5mN9ZG7VA
— AFC Bournemouth(@afcbournemouth) April 14, 2025
In the meantime, Fulham suffered their third successive away defeat, whereas failing to attain on the street for less than the second time this season.
Head coach Marco Silva felt his facet “threw all the things away” following their lacklustre begin to the competition, which noticed them fall behind after simply 53 seconds.
“Within the first minute, we conceded a extremely sloppy purpose, however we had 94 minutes extra to play and alter it,” he advised Sky Sports activities.
“We knew within the first minutes, it was essential to take the precise choices, easy choices. We threw all the things away with our first 25 minutes.
“The response after that was good, and we had probabilities to equalise. The second half, we managed the sport and pushed them again.
“It’s a must to have the standard and, generally, the endurance to interrupt them down and handle moments and one-on-one conditions. Typically, you want inspiration to interrupt down a lot of these groups.
The Cottagers have now alternated between victory and defeat of their final eight Premier League video games, and Bernd Leno is aware of they need to discover consistency to face any probability to making sure a return to continental soccer subsequent time period.
“It’s our fault we misplaced immediately,” he mentioned. “The primary 20 minutes, we weren’t on level or at our stage. We had been fortunate it was simply 1-0. Within the second half, we tried all the things and had been significantly better, however Bournemouth defended effectively.
“We had quite a lot of probabilities, a few headers, harmful crosses, however ultimately, the final proportion was lacking.
“It’s been an exquisite season, we’re nonetheless in a great place and in good second, even with defeat immediately. We’re nonetheless in contact to go to Europe. That claims all the things. All our video games are very tight.
“If we will get extra consistency and get a profitable streak then we, for certain, go to Europe. However that’s the Premier League, it’s all about element and margins.”
