Bournemouth beat Sturm Graz 3-0 to make it two Europa League wins

Bournemouth continued their perfect start to their Europa League campaign with a 3-0 victory over Sturm Graz at Vitality Stadium on Thursday.

The Cherries followed up their opening-day success against Real Sociedad with another convincing result, although they had to wait until just before half-time to take the lead.

Bournemouth had controlled much of the opening period without converting their chances, but Evanilson finally broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute. The Brazilian produced an excellent looping header from Adam Smith’s cross, judging the delivery superbly despite the distance to send the hosts into the interval with a deserved advantage.

Sturm Graz attempted to respond after the break but struggled to shift the balance of the game. The Austrian side came close to an equaliser when William Bøving’s effort struck the post, but they were unable to turn their pressure into a goal.

Bournemouth restored their momentum in the closing stages and doubled their advantage in the 76th minute. Rayan had come on six minutes earlier in place of Marcus Tavernier and took advantage of a mistake by the visiting goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

The home side continued to press for a third goal and were awarded a penalty in added time after Stankovic handled the ball inside the area. Alvaro Rodriguez converted from the spot in the 90th minute plus two minutes to complete the scoring.

The result gives Bournemouth successive victories in the Europa League and reinforces their strong start to the competition. Sturm Graz, meanwhile, suffered their first European defeat of the season and will need to respond quickly.