There were fireworks before kick-off and a tifo tracing the club's route out of League Two, and for 43 minutes it looked as though Bournemouth might have to settle for the pageantry. Then Adam Smith crossed from the right and Evanilson looped a header over Danil Khudyakov. The Vitality Stadium's first European night finished 3-0, and nobody was in a hurry to leave.
Sturm Graz made them wait
Last season's Austrian Bundesliga runners-up did not come to be extras. Bournemouth failed to register a shot on target in the opening 25 minutes, and when Bafode Diakite bundled the ball over the line from a corner shortly before the half-hour, the effort was ruled out for handball almost immediately. The breakthrough, when it came two minutes before the interval, owed everything to technique: Evanilson angled the ball up and over the goalkeeper rather than driving it, and the pressure lifted off the home side at once.
The Brazilian is the most expensive signing in the club's history and had gone without a goal from February until Saturday's defeat at Chelsea. Two in a week is a different conversation.
The visitors had their spell and missed it
Sturm came out after the restart like a team that had worked out it was allowed to attack. Jurgen Heil smacked an effort against the post, and seconds later Djordje Petrovic produced a strong save to deny Jacob Hodl. Had either gone in, the evening takes a different shape. Instead Bournemouth went to their bench, which is a sentence that would have meant nothing here 15 years ago. Rayan finished 14 minutes from time for his second goal in as many Europa League appearances, and Alvaro Rodriguez converted a penalty in stoppage time.
From a 17-point deduction to two wins from two
Marco Rose's side are now the first English club since Bolton in 2005 to win their opening two matches in a major European competition, having already beaten Real Sociedad last month. The attendance of 12,070 was the highest in the stadium's history, which tells you how small this ground is and how far the club has travelled in it. Smith, who joined in 2011 when Bournemouth were a League One side, supplied the assist for the opener. It is hard to script that better.
The caveat sits in the league table rather than the European one. Bournemouth have not won a Premier League game this season and lost 5-1 at Chelsea last weekend, and their habit of surrendering leads domestically made the second half a nervier watch than the scoreline suggests. AC Milan come to the south coast next week. On this evidence the ticket queue will be worse.
Match facts: Bournemouth 3-0 Sturm Graz, Europa League league phase, Vitality Stadium, Thursday 15 October 2026. Attendance 12,070. Scorers: Evanilson 43 (assist Adam Smith), Rayan 76, Alvaro Rodriguez 90+2 (pen). Player of the match: Ben Gannon-Doak (8.38). Bournemouth host AC Milan next in the competition.
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