Bournemouth stuns in-form Aston Villa

  • Bournemouth cruised into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup with a commanding 3-0 victory over Aston Villa at the Vitality Stadium.

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Villa went into the match unbeaten in seven games, having won six of those, but was no match for Marco Rose's in-form team, with goals from Amine Adli, Lewis Cook, and Alvaro Rodriguez doing the damage. 

Bournemouth made a dream start through Adli, who capped off a superb team move involving a lovely combination between Marcus Tavernier and Julio Soler with a close-range finish into the roof of the net. 

Ben Gannon-Doak came close to doubling the Cherries' lead 16 minutes in, taking a delightful touch before whipping a powerful shot on target that Marco Bizot tipped over the bar. 

Bournemouth continued to threaten as Tavernier saw a bending effort bounce just wide of the left-hand post, before Adli rifled a half-volley high into the stands. 

Villa returned from the break with plenty of intent, nearly levelling the scores through Ibrahim Mbaye, who caught Michele Di Gregorio wrong-footed but could not find the target. 

But Bournemouth doubled its lead in fortuitous fashion in the 51st minute. Cook sent a cross into the box that Bizot completely misjudged, allowing the ball to beat him at his near post. 

Unai Emery shuffled his cards on the hour mark with a slew of substitutions, though the damage had already been done, and Rodriguez put the result beyond doubt in the 69th minute, latching onto Tyler Adams's pass before drilling a tidy left-footed finish into the bottom corner.

Alysson spurned a late chance to grab a consolation goal, sending his header wide off Alejandro Garnacho's bending cross.