AFC Bournemouth made the trip to London on Saturday for their penultimate away day of the season.
The Cherries have enjoyed many trips to London this season, kicking off with a win over Tottenham Hotspur, who, believe it or not, back then, if they had picked up a result, would have gone top of the league…
We’ve had the crazy three-all draw with Crystal Palace, the two-two draw with Chelsea and a win over Premier League champions-elect Arsenal.
But this one felt a bit different. This one really felt like three points could put the Cherries on the brink of achieving something that the club has never achieved before.
So of course, when those nerves are bumbling about in the away end, an away end which was in magnificent voice from start to finish, from top to bottom. We had to do it the Bournemouth way, we just had to put ourselves through the wringer.
Ryan Christie gets himself sent off, but Fulham kindly even things up minutes later.
Fulham hit the crossbar, Kroupi for the Cherries hits the crossbar.
But then the breakthrough, Rayan, supported by thousands from before kick off with his new chant really taking off, strikes one from distance and it slams into the back of the net.
After a driving run from Rayan, Truffert had a chance to double the lead, but then in stoppage time, Adli had the ultimate chance and his air kick saw him miss an open goal.
Bournemouth hearts sank; we’ve seen this one before. A missed chance from us punished by the opposition just moments later, and here it was coming again. A long throw into the box falls for the Fulham player, he twists, he turns before unleashing a thunderous strike onto the cross bar, it bounces back down a yard from the line, a scramble and eventually cleared.
Three thousand Bournemouth fans scraped themselves back up off the floor to celebrate the full-time whistle.
The AFC Bournemouth players lined up in front of the travelling support, both acknowledging and congratulating each other. A real connection between squad and support.
Mathematically, nothing has been achieved yet. But a qualification spot for one of Europe’s club competitions is in near touching distance with just two games of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign remaining.
After the match, AFC Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told Sky Sports…
“It’s a massive result for us,”
“Also considering the opponent, how difficult it is to win here, how the game has gone because there is a moment when you receive the first red card where you see it’s very difficult. But we kept fighting and I’m very happy for the players because they’ve shown big spirit.
“When you see the replays, I think both of them look like red cards. I didn’t think the Ryan Christie one looked like it but after you see the replay, you see the image and I understand why they took the decision.
“The problem to get European position is that teams around you win a lot of games, and today you win but Brighton wins, Chelsea one point away.
“We’ve left some oppositions behind, but we still need more points, I think we will need… We are in a good place, but we play a city and we play first away, we have to find points from somewhere.”
Man of the Match against Fulham
Truffert
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Rayan
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Hill
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Petrovic
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Senesi
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Tavernier
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Smith
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Iraola reflects on our victory at Fulham 🗣️
Full interview available on AFCBTV 📺
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) May 10, 2026
Ice8cold
What a huge win against a formidable side also fighting for Europe, unbelievable character and determination from the players, especially with being down to 10 men at one point and the noise from yesterday.
If we want to make Europe, we need to grind out these results, and we did exactly that, bring City on!!!
16 games unbeaten?!?!
table
Well, back on the Riverside Rocket, breathing and heart rate almost returned to normal. The most important thing to say is “That was a heroic display. Every player = Hero” : )
It’s that time of the season where results outweigh performance by a factor of about 10. That was a great away win : )
Our fans were outstanding, constant noise throughout. Behind the team and every player. Fulham’s atmosphere was the opposite. It was a pleasure to be a small part of the Cherries Massive : )
I might have more to say later, but for now all I can think of saying is “Heroes, all heroes”
Garbo
Scrappy but great result!
Nice sojourn on the Thames beforehand…
Thought Fulham offered very little and don’t think that Petrovic had too many direct shots to deal with, one he tipped over and another rattling the bar.
We battled hard off the ball despite the ref (useless as he was!) giving every 50/60 challenge to them if their player went down….Rayan took his goal well and via the deflection scored…how Truffert and Adli missed adding a second was beyond me…especially Adli completely open goal! 1-0 was a gritty result and very welcome too!
DJ
I have been a writer and website administrator on the largest AFC Bournemouth fan website for almost 25 years. Previously on a now defunct fan network and since 2005 on vitalfootball.co.uk We have been nominated for various fan website awards down the years, however we have always been the bridesmaid…