No home joy for Villa as Bournemouth earn first victory

LONDON: Two early goals were enough for Bournemouth to earn a 2-1 win over Aston Villa yesterday to leave the newly-promoted hosts pointless after two games of the new Premier League season.

Villa got off to the worst possible start as Tom Heaton, making his home debut, brought down Callum Wilson in the penalty area inside 40 seconds, with Josh King sending the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot.

Things went from bad to worse in the 12th minute as a mistake from Douglas Luiz, another close season signing, was seized upon by Bournemouth midfielder Harry Wilson who fired into the net, via a deflection off Tyrone Mings.

Aaron Ramsdale was forced into a fine save in the Bournemouth goal to deny John McGinn as Villa pressed for an equaliser, but the visitors got to halftime in a relatively comfortable position.

After the break, chance after chance went begging for Villa before Douglas

Luiz scored a stunning goal in the 71st minute to give his side hope.

That 30-yard curler proved to be in vain though, as Villa’s first home match back in the top flight ended in defeat, with Bournemouth making it four points from their opening two matches.

Meanwhile, an early goal from Bernard was enough for a nervy Everton to beat Watford 1-0 at Goodison Park yesterday to secure them their first Premier League win of the season.

Everton got off to the perfect start as the ever-impressive Lucas Digne picked out Bernard on the left, the Brazilian cut inside before firing home in just the 10th minute — his first Premier League goal at Goodison Park.

In response, Watford came close to an equaliser in the 24th minute but Craig Dawson saw his header bounce off the crossbar.

The Video Assistant Referee was then called into action as Watford looked for a penalty, but Yerry Mina’s challenge on Gerard Deulofeu was deemed to be fair.

After the break, Everton continued to be careless in possession, with Jordan Pickford making a fine save with his face to deny Troy Deeney following a swift Watford counter.

Watford pressed for an equaliser but Everton stood firm to pick up their 10th clean sheet in their last 13 league games and earn Marco Silva a victory against his former club. — Reuters