Bournemouth extend winning run as Luis Sinisterra caps victory over Fulham

Premier League

Bournemouth 3 (Kluivert 44', Solanke 62' (P), Sinisterra 90+2:38)

Fulham 0

Despite taking in this game from the stands owing to a one-match touchline ban, for Andoni Iraola this latest Bournemouth win made deeply satisfying viewing. He must have felt rather comfortable in the front row of the directors’ box as supporters sang his name on repeat during a somewhat routine sixth victory in seven matches, a near-flawless run that has swiftly eradicated early season concerns – externally if not within – about Bournemouth’s direction of travel.

Fulham were the latest side to be dispatched, with goals from the in‑form Dominic Solanke, Justin Kluivert and Luis Sinisterra hoisting them into the top half of the table. Iraola could not hide his delight as Sinisterra, a substitute, sealed victory in style in second-half stoppage time.

For Bournemouth, at the moment it all feels a little too good to be true. Solanke, for one, can do no wrong. Three days after registering a fine hat‑trick in victory at Nottingham Forest, Solanke provided a layer of protection here, sending Bernd Leno the wrong way from the spot for his 12th goal of the season; only Erling Haaland has scored more league goals this term.

Such is his confidence, Solanke attempted an audacious backheeled shot with 15 minutes of normal time to play, by which point any true sense of a contest had long since evaporated. Bournemouth, who travel to Tottenham on Sunday, have lost once in the league since the end of October.

“We want to keep it going,” Iraola said of an impressive run for Bournemouth taking 19 points from the last possible 24, putting them top of the form table in that period. “We were not as bad as we looked at the beginning of the season