The Cherries beat Aston Villa 2-1 in a critical relegation battle, despite playing the second half with only 10 men. Bournemouth started well and created good chances before scoring two goals in six minutes. The first came after Cherries captain Simon Francis crossed for Gosling who headed it down for Billing who caressed the ball in from 8 yards out.
The Cherries were two up in the 44th minute when Aké scored after Villa keeper, Reina, spilled the ball from a Fraser shot.
Bournemouth continued positively in the second half, but their efforts were made more difficult when Lerma was sent off for a second yellow card offence, both incidents involving Villa captain Grealish. The first was a justified yellow card, but the second was a terrible decision by the referee who was played by Grealish. The referee was poor throughout the match and despite only having ten men the Cherries continued to look comfortable until the 70th minute when Samatta became the first ever Tanzanian to play and score in the Premier League. He made a brave header in the face of the oncoming Cherries keeper Ramsdale who was a little slow in coming out. He looked like he was being careful after missing the ball and punching a Villa player from a cross a few minutes earlier.
The Villa goal led to a somewhat tense end to the game for Cherries fans, although the best chance came to Bournemouth when they broke free and should have scored. A thoroughly deserved win for the Cherries and their confidence should be high as they go into the next game away at Sheffield United.
