Wilson hands Everton more away day blues at Bournemouth

Wilson hands Everton more away day blues at Bournemouth

BOURNEMOUTH, United Kingdom: Callum Wilson scored twice as Bournemouth curbed early season optimism over Everton’s prospects with a 3-1 win on Sunday.

The England international took advantage of some sloppy defending from the visitors to head home the opener from close range, but Everton levelled before half-time through Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

The Toffees have spent big again this summer in a bid to challenge the established ‘top six’ for a European place, but will need to improve on the road to do so. Ryan Fraser’s driven free-kick restored Bournemouth’s lead 23 minutes from time via a deflection off Fabian Delph before Wilson’s cool finish to lob international teammate Jordan Pickford made the game safe.

Everton have now picked up just one point from three away games this season after also failing to win at Crystal Palace and Aston Villa. Victory takes Bournemouth above their opponents on goal difference with both sides on seven points from their opening five games.

On Saturday, Manchester City succumbed to a first Premier League defeat since January in stunning fashion to newly-promoted Norwich 3-2. Tottenham and Chelsea bounced back to form with comprehensive wins over Crystal Palace and Wolves respectively, while Manchester United held out for a much-needed three points with a 1-0 victory over Leicester.

“Of course it is special day for us and for the club,” said Norwich boss Daniel Farke. “We had to be special in our plan for City because they are the best team in the world and we had setbacks too with our injuries, but we deserved the win today. We were exceptional.”

Kenny McLean showed up the champions’ struggles to defend set-pieces with a towering header to open the scoring and Teemu Pukki then squared for Todd Cantwell to make it 2-0 inside 28 minutes.

City regained their composure and got a foothold in the game before half-time when Sergio Aguero headed home Bernardo Silva’s cross. However, with Laporte out till January at least with a serious knee injury, Pep Guardiola has problems to solve at the heart of his defence as John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi gifted Norwich a third at the start of the second half.

Emiliano Buendia robbed Otamendi on the edge of his own box and set up Pukki to prod home. City rallied late on, but Rodri’s first goal for the club two minutes from time was too little, too late.

“I know what we are as a team, what we have done, what we are going to do again, and I love my players. It is a pleasure and honour to be with them,” insisted Guardiola. Frank Lampard has endured a difficult start on his return to Stamford Bridge as manager, but he enjoyed his finest day so far in charge of Chelsea with his faith in youth again fully vindicated in a 5-2 win at Wolves.

Tammy Abraham was the star of the show with a hat-trick, but Fikayo Tomori also scored his first goal for the club and Mason Mount completed a perfect day for three graduates of Chelsea’s academy. Tottenham emphatically allayed concerns about their ability to break down teams at home with a 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/527055-wilson-hands-everton-more-away-day-blues-at-bournemouth