Dominic Solanke scored his first senior hat-trick as AFC Bournemouth earned a thrilling late 3-2 win over 10-man Nottingham Forest to spoil Nuno Espirito Santo’s first match in charge.
The Cherries striker scored twice in the space of eight second-half minutes to put the visitors 2-1 up. Then, after Forest equalised through Chris Wood, Solanke scored a dramatic winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time as Andoni Iraola’s side secured a third straight victory.
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How the match unfolded
Nuno endured a nightmare start to his first match in match of Forest as centre-back Willy Boly was shown a second yellow card in the 23rd minute following a tackle on Adam Smith.
But Forest remained resilient in the first half, and the closest Bournemouth came to taking the lead was through a long-range strike from Antoine Semenyo, who shot just wide of the left post.
Against the odds, Nuno’s side claimed a shock lead through Anthony Elanga. Wood did very well to win the ball back deep in Bournemouth territory before sliding the ball through to Elanga, who kept his composure and slid the ball into the bottom-left corner.
But Forest’s lead only lasted four minutes as Solanke produced a superb header that looped over Matt Turner, making him the club’s 10th-highest league goalscorer of all time, and netting Bournemouth’s 300th Premier League goal.
The 26-year-old then completed the turnaround as he poked the ball in from close range.
Forest refused to throw in the towel and showed brilliant character to level things through Wood, who rose highest to head in from a corner. Morgan Gibbs-White then went close to putting the visitors ahead as his shot which was curling towards the far post was brilliantly cleared away by Dango Ouattara.
But back came Bournemouth, and David Brooks struck a post before Solanke struck decisively at the death with another superb header, directing his effort into the top-right corner.
FINALLY ❤️ pic.twitter.com/7vyeoHmahO
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) December 23, 2023
Another win for Iraola’s side moves them up to 11th in the table with 22 points, level with 10th-placed Chelsea. Forest remain 17th on 14 points, now only two points above 18th-placed Luton Town, who have a match in hand.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 |
Brighton
BHA
|
38 | -7 | 48 |
| 12 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
38 | -13 | 48 |
| 13 |
Fulham
FUL
|
38 | -6 | 47 |
| 14 |
Wolves
WOL
|
38 | -15 | 46 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -11 | 40 |
| 16 |
Brentford
BRE
|
38 | -9 | 39 |
| 17 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
38 | -18 | 32 |
| 18 |
Luton
LUT
|
38 | -33 | 26 |
Key facts
- Nottingham Forest have lost four successive top-flight home games for the first time since a run of five between January and March 1999.
- Bournemouth are unbeaten in each of their last six Premier League games (W5 D1), while the Cherries have won four consecutive top-flight away games for the very first time. Their 13 points from their nine Premier League away games this term is their most ever at this stage of a top-flight season.
- Solanke has scored 11 goals in 17 Premier League games this season, more than he managed in his first 96 appearances in the competition (10). This is also the first time that the striker has scored in consecutive appearances in the top-flight.
- Three of Wood’s last four Premier League goals have all come via headers, while this was his 21st headed goal in the top-flight. In fact, since his first such top-flight goal in October 2017, only Harry Kane (29) has scored more Premier League headers than Wood.