Southampton 1-3 Bournemouth: Cherries move up to third with first ever victory at Saints

Nathan Ake, Harry Wilson and Callum Wilson’s goals gave Bournemouth a 3-1 victory at Southampton - their first ever away win against their local rivals.

A dominant first-half display saw the Cherries go into the break 2-0 up, while Josh King also saw a goal disallowed by VAR for offside.

James Ward-Prowse’s penalty gave Saints a lifeline shortly after half-time after Steve Cook brought down Che Adams, but they could not find an equaliser.

Callum Wilson’s goal with virtually the last kick of the game means Bournemouth move up to third ahead of the weekend’s games, while Southampton slip to 11th.

It took just 10 minutes for the Cherries to open their account at St Mary’s with virtually their first attack. Diego Rico’s corner was met by Ake, who powered his header into the bottom corner for the simplest of openers.off

Both teams were sloppy with their passing from the back in a disjointed opening quarter to the game, and Bournemouth thought they’d doubled their lead on 24 minutes.

Dominic Solanke fed Josh King and the Norwegian finished neatly past Angus Gunn. Unfortunately for him, VAR reviewed the goal and he had strayed narrowly offside.

They did not have to wait long to double their lead though. A neat move down the right saw Phillip Billing cut the ball back from the byline and Harry Wilson was their to sweep it into the far corner.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Nathan Redmond both tested Aaron Ramsdale with efforts from range before the break, but the Cherries were deserving of their lead.

Eight minutes into the second period and that lead was halved however. Cook fouled Adams in the area, Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot and after VAR had a look, Ward-Prowse made no mistake from 12 yards.

VAR was involved again five minutes later and, again, it went against Bournemouth and King. He felt he was unfairly brought down by Cedric, Kavanagh disagreed in real time and despite replays showing what looked to be a foul, VAR assistant Graham Scott stuck with the original decision.

Ward-Prowse fired wide, Sofiane Boufal forced Ramsdale into another save with an effort from the edge of the box and Jack Stacey got his body in the way of a goalbound Cedric shot as Saints pushed, without ever creating many clear-cut chances.

And as the clock ticked into the 95th minute, an almighty mix up between Angus Gunn and Jan Bednarek allowed Callum Wilson to pass the ball into an empty net in front of the travelling fans.

It means the Cherries walked away with their first ever victory in Southampton and Eddie Howe his 50th Premier League win as a manager.

They travel to Burton Albion in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, while Southampton have the small matter of a visit to bitter rivals Portsmouth. A similar result is almost unthinkable for their fans.

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