Bournemouth remains unbeaten under interim manager Gary O’Neil following an entertaining 2-2 draw with Fulham.
The Cherries led through Dominic Solanke after just over a minute, but Issa Diop levelled for the hosts.
Jefferson Lerma restored the lead before half-time, but Aleksandar Mitrovic’s penalty early in the second half drew Fulham level again.
O’Neil has now overseen four draws and two victories since the sacking of Scott Parker in August.
Fulham battled well to come from behind twice and earn a point following consecutive defeats by Newcastle and West Ham.
The result leaves Bournemouth in ninth place in the Premier League, while Fulham is one place and a point below.
O’Neil continues to give himself a good chance of becoming the permanent successor to Parker after yet another impressive display by the Cherries.
Parker’s dismissal, following the 9-0 humiliation against Liverpool at Anfield, led to the 39-year-old stepping up but with the prospective takeover by Bill Foley yet to be finalised it seems certain that O’Neil will continue for now.
His confident side took just 64 seconds to get off to a fine start when a sublime pass from Marcus Tavernier allowed Philip Billing and Solanke to exchange passes before the former Liverpool striker placed his shot past Bernd Leno.
And they quickly shook off the setback of being pulled level by Fulham when Solanke set up Lerma, who gave Leno no chance from the edge of the box.
But following Mitrovic’s leveller, Bournemouth spent much of the second half on the back foot and rarely threatened to retake the lead for the third time.
They face Southampton at home on Wednesday and should relish the prospect of taking on their struggling near neighbours on the back of a six-game unbeaten run.
source – BBC Sport
