Bournemouth made it eight wins in a row in all competitions as they continued their charge up the Premier League table with a 2-1 win at Ipswich.
Evanilson scored for the fifth Premier League game running when taking advantage of a shocking error from Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton, who tried to dribble around the striker.
Bournemouth arrived in Suffolk eager to complete an almost perfect month since the last international break with another three points and Alex Scott returned to the bench in another boost for Marco Rose.
Ipswich started the second half in nightmare fashion in a very sloppy overall performance, with the Cherries given a helping hand to score again after 27 seconds.
Abdoul Ouattara was initially at fault by giving the ball away to Evanilson and, after possession was moved on to Christie, the Bournemouth midfielder’s rising strike deflected off first Issa Diop and then the chest of Ipswich left-back Leif Davis on its way in.
Ipswich hadn’t registered a shot or even a touch in the Bournemouth box in the second half until Jack Clarke scored from the penalty spot with 13 minutes remaining.
Fatigue and nerves started to creep in late on for Bournemouth, who had to stand strong in nine minutes of injury time.
Julio Enciso threatened from distance but Marco Rose’s side head into the international break in seventh place, just three points off the top four.
Bournemouth are making a mockery of fixture congestion
Analysis by Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones:
European football is supposed to come with a health warning. More games, more travel, more tired legs and, supposedly, a dip in domestic performance. Somebody should tell Bournemouth.
They have played nine times in the last month and have won eight of their last eight. That is an extraordinary return given the relentless schedule.
There is clearly something working brilliantly behind the scenes at the club. Whether it is the conditioning, recovery methods, squad management or simply the infectious culture the players have, Bournemouth look anything but a team running on empty.
Ipswich were the latest to discover that. The 2-1 scoreline was flattering to Gary O’Neil’s side, who were second best for large spells and struggled to live with Bournemouth’s intensity. The gulf in energy levels was striking.
Bournemouth are not just surviving the extra workload, they are thriving on it.
Ipswich’s Enciso dependency is a dangerous game
Are Ipswich over-reliant on Julio Enciso?
Analysis by Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones:
Ipswich have a Enciso problem. More specifically, they have a problem when Enciso is thwarted.
The Paraguayan has become the creative heartbeat of the newly-promoted team but Bournemouth exposed the danger of building so much of an attacking gameplan around one player. Shut off the supply line to Enciso and suddenly Ipswich look rather ordinary. There was precious little invention elsewhere.
Despite trailing for almost the entire contest, Ipswich mustered just 0.30 expected goals from open play. Even more damning, they failed to register a single touch inside the Bournemouth penalty area in the second half until Clarke converted his penalty in the 73rd minute.
That is quite some attacking impotence when you are chasing a game.
Ipswich cannot afford to be so predictable.
Premier League opponents will have watched that performance closely. The blueprint is out there. Ipswich need a plan B.
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