Jack Grealish’s deflected 78th-minute strike handed Everton their first-ever league win on Bournemouth soil, a hard-fought 1-0 victory that snapped the Cherries’ seven-match unbeaten home streak in the Premier League and lifted the Toffees into the top half.
Both sides were still licking wounds from weekend defeats, so a cagey opening 45 minutes felt almost inevitable. The first shot on target didn’t arrive until the 23rd minute, when Antoine Semenyo – Bournemouth’s six-goal leading marksman – met a deep free-kick with a venomous drive that Jordan Pickford pushed away at full stretch.
Everton’s clearest first-half moments came from James Garner’s wicked inswinging corners just before the break. The first looped off Alex Scott’s head and onto the crossbar; from the second, Thierno Barry nearly opened his Everton account from point-blank range only for Djordje Petrović and the base of the post to combine and deny him. At the other end, Junior Kroupi thought he had stolen in at the near post on the stroke of half-time, only for the linesman’s flag to correctly cut short the celebrations – the Frenchman marginally offside as he turned home Amine Adli’s flick.
The second half exploded into life. Eleven minutes after the restart, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall sparked a rapid Everton break and teed up Barry, whose effort was brilliantly blocked by the onrushing Petrović. Barry spurned another golden chance soon after, blazing over from Garner’s low centre.
As the clock ticked past 70 minutes the game finally stretched. Everton seized the moment. Grealish, on loan from Manchester City and hungry for his second goal in blue, gathered possession 25 yards out, surged forward and unleashed a right-footed shot that took a crucial deflection off Bafodé Diakité, spinning past the wrong-footed Petrović. Moments later Iliman Ndiaye nearly doubled the lead, forcing another sharp save from the Bournemouth keeper.
The Cherries threw bodies forward in search of a leveller but Everton’s rearguard – marshalled superbly on the night – stood firm. For David Moyes it marked an eighth victory over Bournemouth as a manager, seven of them clean sheets, and a sweet return to winning ways that saw his side leapfrog their hosts and climb into the top ten, while Andoni Iraola’s men slipped to 14th.