Bournemouth's victory in vain as five-year stay in top flight comes to an end
The scores that sealed Bournemouth’s fate were flashed on a giant screen facing Eddie Howe and his players as they traipsed out of Goodison Park towards their temporary changing room in the car park. No hiding place and no reprieve. It would be a long, agonising walk out of the Premier League for the team from the south coast.
Bournemouth delivered as they had to on the final day, ending Everton’s 11-match unbeaten home run and recording the club’s first ever win at Goodison with a performance that heightened Howe’s belief that this was an avoidable relegation. Josh King, Dominic Solanke and Junior Stanislas scored the goals that brought a merited fourth away win of the season but, with confirmation of Aston Villa’s point at West Ham filtering through as they headed off the pitch, their victory was greeted with almost total silence. The damage, in truth, was not inflicted at the London Stadium. Four points from a possible 24 since the restart fatally undermined Bournemouth’s survival prospects before they arrived on Merseyside. Inflicting a first home defeat on Carlo Ancelotti as Everton manager was no consolation.
The visitors’ approach and performance at the last could not be faulted. From the opening whistle Bournemouth were more motivated, aggressive and dangerous than an Everton team that had lapsed into coasting mode once again. “We had less motivation than the opponent,” Ancelotti conceded. “The players need to rest now after a long and complicated season and come back in mid-August with new energy and ambition.” Where Howe returns remains to be seen. The Bournemouth manager was non-committal on his future afterwards but, should he stay and keep the core of the team together, a big ask admittedly, the prospect of an immediate return from the Championship will look bright.
Everton, laboured and careless, gifted Bournemouth the breakthrough from the penalty spot. David Brooks drove a free-kick into the wall after André Gomes had fouled Callum Wilson and, in the subsequent scramble to clear inside the area, Richarlison leaned into the ball with his arm. Referee Chris Kavanagh immediately pointed to the spot and King planted his penalty hard and low past Jordan Pickford’s left hand. Bournemouth thought they should have had a second penalty for handball moments later when the ball clearly struck Lucas Digne’s raised arm but VAR ruled against them.
Belatedly, the hosts showed some urgency in their bid to preserve their unbeaten home run. Moise Kean, making his sixth Premier League start, released Theo Walcott with a delicate chip only for Aaron Ramsdale to block the winger’s shot. The pair combined again to draw Everton level shortly before the interval. Séamus Coleman weaved his way into the area before releasing Walcott, who centred low for the unmarked Kean to score his second goal since arriving for an initial £29m from Juventus last summer.
Bournemouth could easily have lost their composure, and Kean could have edged Everton ahead but headed Digne’s deep cross tamely at Ramsdale, yet their nerve and their superiority held. Their lead was restored in first-half stoppage time when Coleman was penalised for a foul on King and Diego Rico whipped another telling free-kick into the heart of the Everton box. Solanke and Jefferson Lerma stole in ahead of Jarrad Branthwaite and the former Liverpool striker sent a header soaring beyond Pickford.
Howe’s side continued to carry the greater threat after the restart and it needed a perfectly timed challenge from substitute Leighton Baines to prevent Wilson converting. A parting gift from Baines, who afterwards announced his retirement after 420 appearances for the club he joined 13 years ago. “I asked him to continue but he decided to stop,” said Ancelotti of Baines, who may yet be offered a role at Everton.
Bournemouth would not be denied a third, however. Stanislas, a late replacement for Solanke, exchanged passes with King before advancing into the Everton area and squeezing a low shot under Pickford’s desperately poor guard. But to no avail. The Championship, and uncertainty, awaits.