Bournemouth 2-0 Aston Villa

Aston Villa were defeated by Bournemouth on the opening day of the Premier League season at the Vitality Stadium.

The Cherries made the perfect start when Jefferson Lerma scored inside the opening two minutes.

Villa proceeded to dominate possession throughout the contest but struggled to create clear-cut chances before the hosts put the game out of their reach late on.

Kieffer Moore rose highest at the back post with 80 minutes on the clock to condemn the Villans to defeat.  

Relishing their return to the top flight after a two-year absence, Bournemouth fans had the Vitality bouncing ahead of kick-off, and their energy levels went up a few levels when their team had the ball in the net with less than two minutes on the clock.

Villa failed to clear their lines following a corner, allowing Lerma to lash home a loose ball from eight yards out.

The visitors responded positively to falling behind and set about testing the hosts’ backline, with Ings firing an effort straight at Mark Travers before new skipper John McGinn skewed a drive wide.

And Bournemouth’s goalkeeper was scrambling across his line after 20 minutes to tip Jacob Ramsey’s controlled shot around the post following a period of pressure from the away side.

Aside from a fine stop to deny Dominic Solanke, Emiliano Martínez had little to do in the first half after conceding early in the game with Villa dominating possession and probing unsuccessfully at the other end for the most part.

Steven Gerrard responded to his side’s half-time deficit by bringing on Emiliano Buendía for Ramsey at the break and switching to a more attacking 4-2-3-1 formation.

The tactical tweak maintained Villa’s control of the game, but they were still struggling to create openings as the match passed the hour mark.

And after Boubacar Kamara took aim from long-range and saw his swerving effort curl away from goal, Gerrard introduced Ollie Watkins for Ings in an attempt to change his team’s fortunes.

However, Villa’s task doubled in difficulty when the home side netted their second goal after 80 minutes.

A cross from captain Lloyd Kelly was headed back across goal and into the net by the towering Moore as Bournemouth capitalised on their only chance of the second half.