Bournemouth Boosts European Hopes With Victory At Fulham

Rayan’s winner against Fulham boosted Bournemouth’s hopes of securing European football for next season with a hard-fought Premier League victory between two 10-man teams.

The Brazilian teenager struck early in the second half with a drilled effort from 20 yards after being teed up by Adam Smith.

By that stage both teams had lost a player to red cards following reviews by the video assistant referee.

Bournemouth were the first to be reduced to 10 men when Ryan Christie lunged in on Timothy Castagne in the 39th minute.

Christie was originally shown a yellow card by referee Andy Madley, but that was upgraded to red after he was summoned to the screen to check the replay.

Fulham’s man advantage only lasted a few minutes however, as Joachim Andersen was dismissed deep into first-half added time, again after a VAR review following a similar challenge on Adrien Truffert.

Bournemouth adjusted to being down to 10 men better than Fulham, with Junior Kroupi firing an effort against the crossbar shortly before Rayan struck.

Fulham had their moments as they chased an equaliser, with Djordje Petrovic having to produce an excellent save to push over Kevin’s swirling effort before Josh King struck the underside of the crossbar deep in added time.

But Bournemouth held firm as they strengthened their position in sixth. They are two points clear of Brighton, who beat Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, and four ahead of Brentford in eighth.

Fulham are 11th, seven points behind Bournemouth with two games remaining.