First-minute goal helps Bournemouth beat Fulham in the Premier League

BOURNEMOUTH, England (AP) — Bournemouth beat Fulham 1-0 at home in the Premier League on Monday and snapped a six-game winless run.

Antoine Semenyo got the goal in the first minute. The Ghanaian international took a pass from Alex Scott, surged to the edge of the box and curled in a left-foot shot.

Semenyo’s first goal in nine games lifted the Cherries above Fulham and into eighth place, keeping alive their hopes of a European place next season.

“As soon as I got it, I knew I had space 1-v-1," Semenyo said of his early strike. "I wanted to shift him one side, hopefully get on the left comfortably, and pass it in the net. I feel like I’ve been in that position, hit it hard, and it’s gone over the bar. I knew when I went past him, I just wanted to pass it into the corner. As soon as he turned, I knew — get the shot away.”

“The manager’s been saying all week it’s a make-or-break game for us," Semenoy added. "We wanted to give it all and you can see from the celebrations it meant a lot.”

An open match gave both teams chances after the explosive start.

Evanilson hit the bar after 17 minutes and Tyler Adams also came close, but Fulham keeper Bernd Leno was lively throughout.

The introduction of Adama Traore, Raul Jimenez and Tom Cairney after an hour boosted Fulham but although it pushed forward in the last quarter it could not find a way past an impressive Kepa Arrizabalaga.

“It’s our fault we lost today. The first 20 minutes we were not on point or at our level, we were lucky it was just 1-0," Leno told Sky Sports. "(In the) second half we tried everything and were much better but Bournemouth defended well.

“We had a lot of chances, a couple of headers, dangerous crosses, but in the end the last percentage was missing."

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