PREMIER LEAGUE

BOURNEMOUTH moved nine points clear of the bottom three with victory over fellow relegation candidates Swansea.

Eddie Howe’s side had addressed a slide in form with a vital win over West Ham last weekend and this success – courtesy of an Alfie Mawson own goal and a Benik Afobe strike – will go a long way to securing the Cherries’ top-flight status for another season.

After the likes of Leicester and Crystal Palace racked up three points earlier in the day, this scrappy victory was vital for Bournemouth.

Mawson was credited with opening the scoring for the hosts as Afobe’s tame shot hit the 23-yearold and squirmed past Lukasz Fabianski, before Afobe tucked away a second after the break.

Both sides were looking to get on top in the early stages, but it was Bournemouth, through Ryan Fraser, who came close with 10 minutes gone as the diminutive winger dragged a shot wide of Fabianski’s post. Gylfi Sigurdsson’s radar was slightly askew as he hit a Fernando Llorente flick over the bar, before Afobe headed wide.

King has been in superb scoring form for the Cherries, hitting nine in his last 10 league outings, but the Norway international nearly put Swansea ahead as he inadvertently headed a Sigurdsson free-kick just inches wide of his own goal.

The forward was involved in Bournemouth’s opener on the halfhour mark, beating Federico Fernandez to the ball before Marc Pugh played in Afobe, whose weak effort nicked off Mawson to wrongfoot Fabianski and roll into the net.

Dan Gosling had the first decent chance after the interval, but his low drive was pushed behind for a corner.

Afobe made sure of the points when he collected a pass from King and, with Mawson slipping, he got the ball out of his feet and finished into the corner.

Only a superb save from Fabianski kept Swansea in the game as he dived low to tip away King’s header.