Bournemouth

Sam Davis
Fan writer

Following Bournemouth's record points tally in last season's Premier League campaign, the Cherries will have their work cut out to repeat that feat this time around having lost their top scorer Dom Solanke to Tottenham Hotspur.

Interest in the frontman was anticipated by the club, and as a result, they acted quickly to this departure by g Brazilian striker Evanilson. Replacing Solanke was always going to be an uphill task for the club, but in Evanilson, they may have just done exactly that.

Being called up to the Brazilian national squad is certainly no mean feat and following an impressive season with Porto, which included a Champions League hat-trick, Bournemouth may well have pulled off a real coup here. Power, pace and a vital goal-scoring touch, Evanilson is a player that could become a real fans' favourite in the near future.

The "record g" headline that this story produced says all it needs to. The powers that be clearly believe Evanilson is going to be the one to solve the issue of losing their main man in attack. In coach Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth will continue to play an aggressive and offensive brand of football which will surely provide the new centre-forward with plenty of opportunities to grab some goals in England.

With Evanilson alongside the likes of Antoine Semenyo, Justin Kluivert and Luis Sinisterra, Bournemouth fans have every right to be excited despite Solanke’s departure, as there are seemingly plenty of attacking options to thrill ers.

It may take some time to adapt to the new system and new country, but Bournemouth fans are starting to believe the gutting loss of Solanke may now not be as bad as once feared. Time will tell.

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We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.

Here are some of your comments:

Forest fans

Doug: Here we go again - leading in a game and we give a late goal away again. It's going to be a long, hard season if we can't close out a game when we are ahead. We also still have players who are simply not good enough to play at this level. We need to be a lot sharper at the back.

Mike: Looked good in the first half. However, as soon as the wingers went off our outlet disappeared and we looked flat and out of ideas. At least we stopped the rot on the opening day.

Steven: Forest sat back and allowed Bournemouth to get a foothold despite being by far the better and more imaginative team. We cannot play this way against the top 20 teams. Some very positive signs in first half, though. Feel so sad for Danilo!

Bournemouth fans

Clive: Only one team in the second half. We ran Forest ragged. They looked out on their feet. What a 19-year-old centre-half we have!

Paul: Same old, same old Neto. Always poor and costing Cherries positive results. How does he keep his place? Such a shame as all the rest of the team must be downhearted after his mistake again. For everyone’s sake, please bring in Travers.

Keith: Scrappy game but a good point - and so much better once the substitutes were on. We will improve next week with Evanilson playing.

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's six Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from Friday's game between Manchester United and Fulham.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Arsenal 2-0 Wolves

• West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa

Image source, Getty Images

Only Liverpool (12) are on a longer ongoing unbeaten run in their opening game of a Premier League season than Bournemouth, with the Cherries unbeaten in their past five such games (W2 D3).

Adam Millington
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Cherries boss Andoni Iraola will be pleased that his side were persistent in their battle to prevent defeat against Nottingham Forest and managed a point in their opening Premier League game.

But there were clearly still elements of his side's performance that need improving and they lacked a quality final product on Saturday.

Evanilson, who became the club's record g on Friday, was unable to feature and Antoine Semenyo took his place as the central striker - a role he plays for Ghana, although Iraola prefers to use him as a winger.

Semenyo's position was a necessity given the lack of star striker Dominic Solanke following his move to Tottenham and he was in the right place to bundle home as Forest made a mess of clearing a corner.

Yet the boost Evanilson could provide was definitely clear: apart from a scrappy equaliser, there was little else in the way of firepower in the final third.

They definitely produced chances and were markedly improved after a poor first-half showing. With an stronger focal point up top, they could better capitalise on their creative efforts.