Bournemouth came from 1-0 down and scored three late goals to defeat Fulham 3-1 in a pulsating and blustery Premier League encounter.
Antoine Semenyo scored twice on Friday and was outstanding for the home side which moved into second place in the table and extended its unbeaten run to six games since losing against champion Liverpool on the opening weekend.
There was little goalmouth action in the first half as both sides struggled to impose themselves in the wet and windy conditions that assailed England’s south coast.
But the game sparked into life in the last quarter, with Ryan Sessegnon giving Fulham the lead after 70 minutes when he ran into the box to poke home a neat pass from Samuel Chukwueze.
However, the home side got back into the game eight minutes later when a spritely Semenyo scored from the tightest of angles, knocking the ball through goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s legs.
Then substitute Justin Kluivert gave Bournemouth the lead when he smashed home a long-range strike with six minutes left on the clock.
Semenyo added a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time when he finished off a counterattack by coolly burying a pass from Ben Gannon-Doak. The goals took Semenyo’s league tally to six in seven games.
“What an evening,” a delighted Semenyo said.
“I can’t even explain what’s going on, this feeling. Going second, going into the international break. It’s an achievement for us, we’ve just got to keep going.
“They went in front, it was a bit frustrating. But we had our moments, our spells, we just needed to finish our chances, and we did that in the end.”
It was an infuriating case of déjà vu for Fulham, which has lost five of the last eight games in which it scored first.
The Cottagers have dropped more points from wining positions than any other club except Brentford since the start of last season. Its sits in 11th place.
“It is really disappointing,” Fulham defender Joachim Anderson said. “We held them for the big chances and were solid. Then we got the goal and it was about sticking together and fighting — we did that but those two goals from nowhere changed the game.
“It is a punch in the face but we need to keep our head high and move on.
