Bournemouth marked their first European night on home soil with a commanding 3-0 win over Sturm Graz at the Vitality Stadium, making it two victories from two in the UEFA Europa League league stage.
Match facts
- Result: Bournemouth 3-0 Sturm Graz (half-time 1-0)
- Competition: UEFA Europa League, League Stage
- Venue: Vitality Stadium
- Scorers: Evanilson 43'; Rayan 76'; Álvaro Rodríguez 90+2' (pen)
- Red cards: None
- Next: Bournemouth host AC Milan in the Europa League next Thursday; Premier League trip to face Sunderland is next domestically
How the match unfolded
The Cherries had already beaten Real Sociedad away on Matchday 1, but this was a different kind of landmark: the first European fixture ever staged at the Vitality. A record home crowd, a fireworks welcome and a tifo charting the club’s rise from League Two to the Europa League set the tone before kick-off.
Sturm Graz, Austrian Bundesliga runners-up last season and recent Champions League participants, sat deep and frustrated Bournemouth for long spells. The hosts did not register a shot on target in the opening 25 minutes, and when Bafodé Diakité bundled the ball over the line from a corner shortly before the half-hour, the effort was ruled out for handball. Marcus Tavernier later struck the post.
The breakthrough arrived two minutes before the interval. Captain Adam Smith — who first joined when Bournemouth were still in League One — whipped a cross from the right, and Evanilson produced a looping header from distance that cleared Danil Khudyakov. It was the Brazilian’s first European goal at the Vitality and the first European goal scored at the stadium.
After the restart the visitors finally threatened. Jürgen Heil smashed an effort against the post, and Đorđe Petrović had to react sharply to deny Jakob Hödl on the follow-up. Bournemouth weathered that spell, then sealed the points through the bench. Substitute Rayan — already a scorer in this season’s Europa League — finished after Khudyakov spilled a corner in the 76th minute, his low shot beating the goalkeeper again.
In stoppage time Jon Gorenc Stanković was penalised for a foul on James Hill after another Bournemouth corner, and Álvaro Rodríguez converted the penalty for his first Bournemouth goal, completing a 3-0 scoreline.
What the result means
Bournemouth sit fifth in the early Europa League table with six points from two matches and a +4 goal difference. According to BBC Sport, they are the first English club since Bolton Wanderers in the 2005-06 UEFA Cup to win their opening two ties in major European competition. The win also answered a Premier League weekend to forget: the Cherries had lost 5-1 at Chelsea, and captain Smith said afterwards that the squad “got a reaction” on a night that felt like a classic AFC Bournemouth performance.
What’s next
Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan — 4-0 winners at RB Salzburg on the same matchday — visit the Vitality next Thursday in what will be another historic European night on the south coast. Before that, Bournemouth return to Premier League duty against Sunderland. Sturm Graz remain near the foot of the league-stage table after a draw and a defeat from their first two games.
For more English and European context, see Chelsea 5-1 Bournemouth and Aston Villa’s 6-0 Champions League win over Fenerbahçe. Free account checks and scam reports remain available on the BetAlert database.