Bournemouth 4-0 Swansea: Dominic Solanke and Jaidon Anthony score brace in win

Dominic Solanke and Jaidon Anthony grabbed a brace each to help Bournemouth seal a dominant victory over Swansea and get the Championship leaders’ promotion push back on track.

One-time England striker Solanke grabbed a goal in either half while Anthony struck twice late on to ensure the table-topping Cherries bounced straight back from their first defeat of the season at home to Preston in mid-week. 

The victory delighted boss Scott Parker, who said: ‘I thought it was a big performance from us today, I thought we were brilliant overall, everything about us today. 

The former Liverpool striker continued his superb season with a brace against Swansea

‘I thought we struggled early on and that was down to me probably and me and my staff having to fix the problems they were causing us tactically. We fixed that and from that point we were every bit of a top team, the intensity, I just loved every bit of us today.’ 

Swansea enjoyed the brighter start and Ethan Laird was denied a penalty after sprinting beyond Leif Davis and being clipped by the young left-back inside the box.  

Eventually the hosts found their rhythm and when the opener came, it all appeared so simple. Anthony’s ball released Philip Billing down the left and his low first-time cross was fired home by the in-form Solanke for what may be his easiest finish of the season. 

A fiery encounter almost boiled over at the end of the first half as a small melee broke out after a clash between Billing and Flynn Downes. The hosts put the game to bed almost immediately after the break. 

Anthony was again the instigator, feeding Davis on the left who sent in a cross that Solanke acrobatically dispatched for his second of the game and 14th of a very impressive season. 

Aggressive pressing from the Cherries made it difficult for the Swans to build any of their trademark passing moves, on occasion flirting with danger in playing out from the back. 

That did indeed lead to the third goal as Matt Grimes’ mislaid pass was seized on by Ryan Christie, who nutmegged Kyle Naughton and charged down on goal. When his effort was parried by Ben Hamer, Anthony was on hand to plant a header back beyond the keeper. 

As darkness descended in Dorset, the hosts kept hunting for more. Having already scored one, Anthony’s curling effort forced Hamer into a flying stop to his left. The Cherries were desperate for more and should have found the net when substitute Jamal Lowe fed Billing who flashed wide. Solanke should have sealed his hat-trick after Billing’s neat flick set him up six yards out, but Hamer denied him superbly.   

There was even time for a rousing ovation for the returning Lewis Cook, who came off the bench for his first Cherries appearance in eight months after recovering from an ACL injury. The midfielder almost capped it with a goal but he could only divert Anthony cross just past the post. 

The Cherries lost their first game of the season in midweek but bounced back well 

Jaidon Anthony added a brace of his own to give the Cherries a comfortable win 

In the final minute of the game, Swansea were again caught in possession inside their own area. Having won the ball, Lowe slid it across for Anthony to slot home with the last kick of the game. 

While Bournemouth maintained their two-point lead over Fulham at the top, Swansea slipped to 12th in the table and five points from the play-offs. However, boss Russell Martin believes his side have plenty of positive to take from the game. 

He said: ‘I think 4-0 is an unfair scoreline I don’t think it reflects the game. We are definitely not four goals worse than them over 90 minutes is my opinion of where we are at this moment in time. ‘We have a lot to work on, a lot to improve on. I’m not going to get too angry; I’m not going to get too disappointed. We need to make sure we bounce back and repay the fans after the international break.’