Sessegnon signals hope, but Fulham’s strikerless plan is unpicked late by Bournemouth’s surge

For an hour in foul weather, Fulham’s grit and game‑plan looked like they might crack a bad run at this ground. Ryan Sessegnon’s tidy finish after combining with Samuel Chukwueze rewarded a compact, disciplined display and suggested fourth‑time lucky at Bournemouth.

But Antoine Semenyo’s equaliser from an improbable angle reset the night, Justin Kluivert’s long‑range strike turned it, and a stoppage‑time counter finished it: 3-1 to the hosts, a harsh end for a team patching together a frontline on the fly.

Making do without a No 9

Marco Silva entered without a recognised striker: Rodrigo Muniz was already out and Raul Jimenez joined him on the treatment table after last weekend. The workaround saw Alex Iwobi pushed high at times, Harry Wilson operating off the right and Josh King dropping as a withdrawn forward, with the shape shifting into a back five to keep the middle shut.

The plan took time to settle, especially as Bournemouth’s early press and stream of corners pinned Fulham back. A further complication arrived when Sasa Lukic suffered a muscle injury, but Tom Cairney’s introduction lifted the team’s forward thrust. His understanding with King knit together the away side’s best passages as the rain continued to fall.

Storm and small margins

On a night when long passes were chopped down by gusts, the game became one of inches and decisions. When Calvin Bassey clipped Evanilson as the Bournemouth striker chased the rebound from a Semenyo shot, an offside flag trumped home penalty appeals. Later, Issa Diop’s contact on Evanilson in the box was ruled accidental by VAR.

Through it all, Fulham kept their shape and limited clear looks in a first half that ended with the lowest combined xG of the league season so far. They had to survive tense moments—Evanilson hitting the side‑net to trigger a false celebration on the big screen—and cashed in their composure after the interval.

Sessegnon’s crafted opener hints at a turning tide

Silva’s changes paid off when recent arrival Samuel Chukwueze worked a neat exchange with Sessegnon, freeing the full‑back to burst through and stab his finish into the roof of the net. In the wind and rain, it was the kind of swift, simple action the game demanded.

At that point, with a compact back five and better midfield control, Fulham looked capable of finally grasping a result on this ground. The away end sensed it too, even as the conditions made each clearance and touch feel precarious.

Semenyo and Kluivert wrench it back

Bournemouth’s reply was brutally efficient. Semenyo slalomed along the byline and squeezed the ball through Bernd Leno from a near‑impossible angle to level, a single act of skill that reversed the emotional current of the match.

Moments later the Ghanaian sent Kluivert away from deep and the substitute arced a devastating strike from distance into the top corner. From compact control to chasing shadows, Fulham’s night pivoted in a couple of actions they could do little about.

Late sting and lessons to carry forward

Silva turned to Kevin and Samuel Chukwueze for late sparks, and as Fulham pushed for an equaliser the game became stretched. That space spelled danger: in stoppage time Bournemouth sprung a counter at warp speed and Semenyo applied the finish for 3-1.

The loss extends a frustrating theme—still no away points this season and another missed opportunity to show progress at a tough venue—yet there were spells to build on, especially Cairney’s influence and the organisation in a makeshift attack. After the international break, Fulham host Arsenal, and with strikers returning in time or not, the lessons from this stormy evening will need to stick.