ANTOINE SEMENYO scored twice as Bournemouth moved up to second in the Premier League with three late goals to beat Fulham 3-1 on Friday.
The Cherries were heading to their first league defeat since losing to Liverpool on the opening night of the season when Ryan Sessegnon put the visitors in front on 70 minutes.
Semenyo’s brilliant individual run and finish kickstarted the comeback for the home side.
Justin Kluivert then blasted into the top corner to give Bournemouth the lead.
Semenyo completed the turnaround on the counter-attack deep into stoppage time for his sixth goal in seven Premier League games this season.
Andoni Iraola’s men closed to within one point of leaders Liverpool, who travel to Chelsea on Sunday.
Bournemouth’s impressive start comes despite losing several key players during the summer transfer window.
Defenders Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez and Illia Zabarnyi departed for Real Madrid, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.
“It’s a great feeling,“ said Semenyo on sitting second in the table.
“We lost so many important players for us, but the start to the season has been great and it’s a great environment to be a part of.”
Neither side was capable of playing flowing football in awful weather conditions as Storm Amy battered the United Kingdom.
The game came to life in the final 20 minutes after Sessegnon exchanged a slick one-two with Samuel Chukwueze before firing high past Djordje Petrovic.
The lead lasted only eight minutes as the in-form Semenyo burst past Timothy Castagne to reach the by-line and produced an inch-perfect finish through the legs of goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Semenyo was also credited with the assist for the second goal as Kluivert showed his quality with a stunning strike from distance.
The Dutch international collected possession from Semenyo just inside the Fulham half and strode forward before unleashing a dipping drive into the top corner.
In their quest for an equaliser, Fulham were caught short at the back in stoppage time.
Ben Gannon-Doak broke clear from a Fulham corner and kept his composure to wait for support before supplying Semenyo for the clinching goal.
Defeat leaves Fulham still in 11th with eight points from their opening seven games.
“It’s very tough for us the way we lost,“ said Fulham boss Marco Silva.
“The game was totally under control at 1-0.” – AFP