Dominic Solanke Bournemouth
On a goal drought of 10 Premier League games without scoring, Solanke helped bundle the ball over the line in the 79th minute. Although Fulham defender Antonee Robinson seemed to get the final touch, as of the time of writing, Cherries’ talismanic striker has been credited with the goal, his fourth in the league this term. Cherries had trailed at the break thanks to Andrea Pereira’s 16th minute opener, before the hosts restored parity via a long-range Marcus Tavernier curler. Asked if he was claiming the winning goal,
Dominic Solanke said: “For sure – I need to take it! So, yeah, I’m happy to get that goal, especially as it turned out to be the winner. I think we deserved to win today. So, yes, it’s a really good result for us.”
In his last four starts against Fulham, Solanke has scored on each occasion, his goals effectively earning his team six points. He has only drawn a blank once against the Cottagers, in his first meeting with the London side, a 29 minute cameo appearance during the 2018/19 season. Asked if he felt more confident going into matchups with the Cottagers,
Dominic Solanke replied: “I think so. It just shows that, I’ve done it before so I can do it again. But I think every game, obviously I look to try and score, but obviously my record against Fulham is decent, so I’m happy to add to that.”
After a sub-par first 45 minutes, Cherries required significant changes at the break to spark the comeback, Gary O’Neil introducing Marcus Tavernier and Ryan Christie to the fray.
Dominic Solanke said: “I think the second half we came out on top, started really fast. Tavs (Marcus Tavernier) scored a screamer, got us back into the game and we built on it from there. We’re not in a position to sulk if we go 1-0 down, we need to make sure that we react. As soon as we came into the second half, we was on the front foot and we showed it.”
When probed for head coach O’Neil’s approach to the half-time team talk,
Dominic Solanke revealed: “Not too heated. I think it’s important that we need to look at what we need to do better. Obviously, we tell each other what we need to do better, but it’s never a bad vibe in there. But like I said, we’re not in a position to be nice and take a step back right now, so, we need to carry on like that.”
