Bournemouth 2-0 Nottingham Forest: Two Cherry Bombs Dismiss Dyche Return

Bournemouth Mark Best-Ever Start As Forest Brushed Aside

AFC Bournemouth are officially enjoying the best start to a Premier League season they have ever had after dismissing Nottingham Forest efficiently, spoiling the return party for Sean Dyche in the Premier League after goals from Marcus Tavernier and Eli Junior Kroupi.

After a controversial corner decision, Tavernier had swung in a direct corner that flew over the head of Matz Sels to open the scoring before Kroupi battered home a tasty effort from range after picking up loose possession in midfield.

The result see's Bournemouth rise to 2nd in the Premier League whilst keeping Forest in 18th, three points adrift from Premier League safety thanks to Burnley's result against Wolverhampton Wanderers today.

Cherries Dismiss Reds - Story Of The Match

The game was a marker of a new stage in Nottingham Forest's journey, as Sean Dyche took charge of his first Premier League match in charge of the club he spent some of his formative years playing for as an apprentice. After an eight-game spell under the watch of Ange Postecoglou, in which the Australian didn't win a single game, the Burnley legend got off to the perfect start by inflicting a first defeat of the season to in-form FC Porto on Thursday night.

Under Dyche, the goal is for Forest to once again become hard to break down and defeat, an onus that worked well under Nuno Santo and was completely dismissed under Postecoglou. Suitably, Bournemouth were the side that saw the main bust of opening chances as Forest looked to sit in, with Matz Sels on hand twice to keep out simple strikes from Marcus Tavernier and Antoine Semenyo in the opening ten minutes.

Wasn't a corner but wasn't a foul on Sels for me. Totally overrun in midfield and being beaten by a very impressive team. Lost so many duels all over the pitch. Wouldn't be surprised if Yates, Sangare or Dominguez come on. Maybe more changes. #nffc https://t.co/abOXfXuZSD

— Matt Davies (@MattDavies_FF) October 26, 2025

It didn't take too long for Bournemouth to take the lead, although it came in controversial circumstances. Despite a tackle at the by-line from Neco Williams coming lastly off of Tavernier, a corner was awarded against Nottingham Forest which Tavernier himself would whip directly over the head of Sels and into the net for 1-0. Replays showed that the corner should not have been awarded, but VAR is unable to intervene on those matters.

Forest huffed and almost got level soon after through Williams at range, but Bournemouth would find themselves doubling their money soon before the break as they generally began to dominate the match. After a collision in midfield between Elliot Anderson and Tyler Adams saw the ball break free, 19-year-old Eli Junior Kroupi strode into space before daggering a beautiful effort home from 25 yards to put The Cherries into the ascendancy.

Kroupi Jr. has now scored 27 goals since the start of last season, more than any other u20 player in Europe:

27 - E. KROUPI JR.
26 --
25 --
24 --
23 --
22 --
21 -- L. Yamal
20 --

What a hit son. 💥 pic.twitter.com/Ow2JKIoU34

— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) October 26, 2025

Sean Dyche cut an angry figure as both sides went in at the break, and he shuffled the deck with a triple change of Ryan Yates, Omari Hutchinson and Taiwo Awoniyi as The Reds looked to get a grip on the game. They would begin enjoying a better share of the game's possession in the opening jousts of the half, but Bournemouth's watertight defence stood firm in keeping them at arms length.

The game petered out into ultimately what was a tale of two halves - Bournemouth crashing their way through a half-asleep Forest in the first to take a strong lead, and holding firmly onto said lead through the second as they woke up, with Petrovic making good stops to deny Awoniyi, and again to deny a dashing effort from the edge of the box by a Morgan Gibbs-White that improved over the second 45, after a quiet first half.

But Bournemouth weren't to be troubled, putting on a masterclass in pressing and defending to keep their visitors at a whisper, even enjoying further chances of their own through substitutes David Brooks and Amine Adli. There would be no further twists in this tale, however, as Iraola's side saw the game out to rise to 2nd in the Premier League.

Bournemouth vs Forest Lineups And Ratings

Bournemouth: Petrovic (6), Jimenez (7), Milosavljevic (7), Senesi (8), Truffert (7), Adams (7), Scott (8), Kluivert (6), Tavernier (7), Semenyo (6), Kroupi (7)

Subs: Amine Adli (6), David Brooks (7), Ryan Christie (6), Lewis Cook (N/A), Unal (N/A)

Nottingham Forest: Sels (4), Williams (7), Murillo (6), Milenkovic (5), Savona (6), Luiz (5), Anderson (5), Gibbs-White (5), Hudson-Odoi (5), Ndoye (4), Jesus (4)

Subs: Awoniyi (5), Yates (5), Hutchinson (5), Dominguez (N/A), Kalimuendo (N/A)

Un-Used Substitutes

Bournemouth: Dennis, Diakite, Soler, Doak

Forest: John, Morato, Jair, Sangare

Man Of The Match - Alex Scott

Kroupi and Tavernier will take the plaudits for their goals, but this boy was absolutely everywhere today.

The vital part of Bournemouth's game plan was how suffocating their press can be in important moments, and Scott was the leading force behind that whilst adding several moments of quality in possession. He's uncapped at the moment, but the World Cup looms...