Milan never got a shot on target all night, and that tells most of the story. A 3-0 win at the Vitality Stadium keeps Marco Rose's Bournemouth perfect in the Europa League, and it came against a team that finished with ten men after its goalkeeper lost his head.
Two penalties and a sending-off
The game turned on the touchline almost before the crowd had settled. Evanilson headed the ball onto the arm of Koni de Winter, the referee Vasilis Fotias went to the monitor after a VAR check, and pointed to the spot. Justin Kluivert, whose father Patrick once played for Milan, took his time and sent Mike Maignan the wrong way, even with opposition players trying to put him off.
Bournemouth kept coming. Kluivert, Ben Gannon-Doak and Antonio Silva all went close as the first effects of Storm Austin rolled in off the south coast. Then Maignan threw away whatever chance Milan had of a comeback. He shoved Tyler Adams in the face in the 27th minute and was sent off. The protests went on for almost five minutes before Marcus Tavernier stepped up and beat the replacement keeper, Lorenzo Torriani, from the penalty spot to make it 2-0.
Adli seals it with a free-kick
The second half was a case of how many Bournemouth wanted. Substitute Rayan went closest to a third, and the only real alarm for the home side was the sight of Alex Toth leaving the field with what looked like a hamstring problem. The goal arrived through another replacement. Amine Adli curled a 20-yard free-kick in at the near post less than seven minutes after coming on, and Rayan was close to a fourth late on.
Rose also made use of a comfortable scoreline. Adams, Tavernier and Kluivert were all taken off in the 62nd minute, which tells you where the manager's mind was heading: Sunday's Premier League trip to a struggling Manchester United, kicking off at 14:00 GMT.
A sour return for Amorim
It was Ruben Amorim's first match in England since Manchester United sacked him in January, and he can hardly have enjoyed it. Milan were outplayed from the first whistle, never found a way to threaten and dropped to 24th in the 36-team league phase. Bournemouth ended the night third.
BBC readers named Gannon-Doak their player of the match with an average rating of 8.85, ahead of Ryan Christie and Kluivert. With a United test coming in three days, Rose will like both the result and the fact that his key men finished the evening on the bench.
Match facts: Bournemouth 3-0 AC Milan, UEFA Europa League league phase, Vitality Stadium, Thursday 22 October 2026. Goals: Justin Kluivert (penalty, early in the first half), Marcus Tavernier (penalty, a few minutes after the red card), Amine Adli (free-kick, second half, less than seven minutes after coming on). Red card: Mike Maignan (AC Milan), 27th minute. Referee: Vasilis Fotias.
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