Solanke silenced but Bournemouth make stunning Premier League start against Aston Villa

Dominic Solanke could not score as Bournemouth registered a 2-0 win over Aston Villa in a Premier League contest at Vitality Stadium on Saturday.

Goals from Jefferson Lerma and Kieffer Moore gave Solanke’s teammates a 2-0 win over Steven Gerrard’s team as the Cherries made a stunning start to life back in the top-tier.

Lerma’s opener for Bournemouth, scored within one minute and 56 seconds, is the earliest goal scored on matchday one by a promoted team in Premier League history.

Within two minutes of the 2022/23 season, Lerma equalled his goal tally from last season’s EFL Championship - one goal in 34 games - with the midfielder netting just his second goal in his last 42 league appearances.

Moore scored the second goal for the Cherries in the 80th minute with an assist from Lloyd Kelly.

It means Moore has scored in each of his last four league games for Bournemouth – five goals in total - as many as he managed in his previous 25 - one appearance for Bournemouth and 24 appearances for Cardiff.

Bournemouth, after the home win, are unbeaten in 11 home league games (W7 D4) after losing three of the six before that (W2 D1).

The loss means Aston Villa have been defeated in three of their four opening day Premier League matches since returning to the top-flight in 2019 (W1), after winning three in a row between 2013/2014 and 2015/16.

They have also won just two of their last 12 Premier League games (D3 L7), after winning three in a row before that.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe international Jordan Zemura became the sixth Bournemouth academy graduate to represent the club in the Premier League, following in the footsteps of Baily Cargill, Matt Worthington, Jack Simpson, Sam Surridge, and Mark Tavernier.

Mark Travers, who kept a clean sheet on his league debut against Tottenham Hotspur in May 2019, made his 50th league appearance for the club and crowned it with yet another clean sheet against Aston Villa.