Bournemouth beat Southampton after first-half flurry

Bournemouth claimed a comfortable 3-1 English Premier League victory over south-coast rivals Southampton, whose dismal start to the campaign continued at the Vitality Stadium.

The result lifts Bournemouth up to 11th in the table and the outcome rarely looked in doubt after club record signing Evanilson set the Cherries on their way - the Brazil forward reacting sharply to Marcus Tavernier’s quickly taken free kick to prod the ball past Saints goal keeper Aaron Ramsdale.

From that point Andoni Iraola’s side took full control against a Southampton Team who are 19th, with just a solitary point to show from their first six games of the season.

With Lewis Cook and Ryan Christie dominating in midfield, the hosts doubled their lead.

Antoine Semenyo charged down the right and cut the ball back to Cook, whose placed effort deflected off his own teammate Dango Ouattara to completely deceive Ramsdale, as it diverted into the bottom right corner.

As Russell Martin’s Southampton side struggled to hold on to possession and at times caused their own problems in defence, the hosts deservedly added a third.

Ghana winger Semenyo tormented several watching defenders before drilling a low effort into the left corner from the edge of the box.

While the game was effectively over as a contest at the break, Southampton did improve in the second period after the half time introduction of Ross Stewart, Ben Brereton Diaz and Joe Aribo.

But while Taylor Harwood-Bellis nodded home Mateus Fernandes’ delivery from the left, it proved little more than a consolation for the visitors. (Agencies)