Bournemouth 3-0 AC Milan Match Report: Cherries Win The Red And Black Showdown

AFC Bournemouth dominated the red and black showdown on the South coast, beating 10-man AC Milan 3-0 to maintain their perfect start to the Europa League at the Vitality.

Penalties from Justin Kluivert and Marcus Tavernier put the Cherries in cruise control heading into half time, with substitute Amine Aldi cementing the win with a stunning free kick in the last ten minutes.

The result sees Bournemouth climb to third in the Europa League group on maximum points, behind Benfica and Bayern Leverkusen. AC Milan dropped to 24th.

Marco Rose’s side came out of the blocks all guns blazing and were rewarded in the 7th minute when Evanilson headed the ball on to the arm of Koni de Winter to win an early penalty.

Referee Vasilis Fotias went over to the monitor, much to the surprise of the Bournemouth fans as there were no appeals from players, and it seemed very out of the blue.

But the penalty was deservedly given, and within eight minutes, Kluivert converted, sending Mike Maignan the wrong way.

Defender James Hill went close not long after, his deflected shot forcing Maignan to get down quickly to his right.

The Milan keeper then had a moment of madness from the resulting corner, pushing Tyler Adams to the floor with two hands to the face.

The stadium fell silent in anticipation until Fotias brandished a red card from his top pocket and pointed to the spot.

After almost five minutes of complaints from the Italian side, Tavernier slotted home the penalty into the bottom left hand corner in the 32nd minute, past replacement keeper Lorenzo Torriani.

The first 20 minutes of the second half saw the Cherries comfortably dominate possession with very little threat from the Italian giants.

Rayan had a headed attempt after being substituted on for goal scorer Tavernier. Adrian Truffert whipped the ball in to a promising position, but the Brazilian headed over.

There was disappointment for Alex Toth in the 72nd minute, as he was subbed off for an apparent hamstring injury. The Hungarian has been a talent spark in the side so far.

But it was his replacement, Adli, who capped off the evening in the 84th minute. Ben Gannon-Doak won a freekick from Diego Moreira just outside the box, which Adli curled beautifully around the wall at the near post.

Bournemouth should have had a fourth, as Rayan came tantalisingly close from just outside the six yard box, but Torriani managed to get his fingertips to the ball to parry it wide.

Ruben Amorim remains winless in his four meetings with Bournemouth (2D, 2L), and his Milan side failed to have a shot on target over 90 minutes.