Bournemouth beats Aston Villa 2-0 for winning return to EPL

BOURNEMOUTH, England (AP) — Scott Parker won the battle of the former England midfielders as his newly promoted Bournemouth marked its return to the English Premier League with a 2-0 win over Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa on Saturday.

Jefferson Lerma and Kieffer Moore scored either side of halftime at Vitality Stadium as Gerrard — who played alongside Parker at Euro 2012 — cut a frustrated figure for much of the afternoon.

His expensively assembled team dominated possession in the south-coast sunshine but was toothless in attack.

Parker, meanwhile, had been frustrated by a lack of summer transfer activity following promotion from the Championship but new signing Marcus Tavernier contributed to their second-minute opener. Lerma emphatically lashed home a deflected, left-footed drive from close range after the visitors made a mess of clearing Tavernier’s right-wing corner.

Gerrard brought on Emiliano Buendia in the second half and the Argentine midfielder showed flashes of inspiration before hopes of salvaging a draw were extinguished 10 minutes from time when Moore expertly headed beyond goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez following a cross from Lloyd Kelly.

Things will get a lot tougher for Bournemouth, though, with Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool to come in the next three weeks.

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Bournemouth’s Philip Billing, centre, and Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey battle for the ball, during the English Premier League soccer match between Bournemouth and Aston Villa, at the Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, England, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022.

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