Bournemouth won its third consecutive Premier League game with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Tuesday. The Cherries have ten points in their last four league games, and they caged the visitors in the early minutes at Vitality Stadium.

The Eagles had to soak up the early pressure, but they still had the first opportunity through French forward Jean-Philippe Mateta, who got into the box, but his shot was straight at Neto. Eberechi Eze could have done more damage moments later, but he let Ilya Zabarnyi snoop on him and dispossess him.

Bournemouth’s moment came when Dean Henderson was forced into a save to deny Philip Billing’s header. Eberechi Eze could have led Palace, but his close-range finish was ruled out for offside in the buildup.

With Andoni Iraola’s men winning the first leg 2-0, they looked determined to get six points off the Eagles the moment the second half started. However, the goal didn’t come until substitute Justin Kluivert smashed into the net from 12 yards after some fine work from Antoine Semenyo. 

Bournemouth will now be looking to finish the season in the upper half, while Crystal Palace is just five points away from the drop zone, with games against Manchester City and Liverpool looming.

Although Premier League football has been secured for another year, Iraola insists there are other goals for the Cherries to try to achieve before the end of the season.

“The only thing with 41 points is that you know you are safe and are going to be in the Premier League next season. We have smaller goals. It’s good to be not so far from teams in the top 10. We want to have more points than Bournemouth have ever had in the Premier League. I think the current record is 46. There are more goals that we have to go for.” Iraola said.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu