Bournemouth made it seven wins in a row in all competitions with a comeback that looked unlikely for most of the first hour. They trailed to a superb solo goal, missed a penalty, then needed three substitutes to take the game away from a Sparta Prague side that played the last 53 minutes with ten men. The final score was 3-1, and Rayan's late strike from 25 yards finished it.
The match did not begin as a Bournemouth game. Sparta had the better of the opening half hour against a heavily rotated visiting team and should have scored inside two minutes.
A penalty missed, a goal conceded
Bournemouth's first big moment arrived in the 29th minute, when the ball bounced up off a Brooks touch and hit a Sparta defender's outstretched arm. The referee pointed to the spot almost immediately. Cook sent the goalkeeper the wrong way but struck the inside of the left post, and the ball rolled right across the goal line and stayed out.
It got worse five minutes later. Sparta won the ball back and the goalkeeper threw it out to Singhateh, who ran from inside his own half, left Cook behind him, and finished with a flourish. Sky Sports pointed out that it was the first goal Bournemouth had conceded in seven matches. Then the game flipped again. Guddal held on to the striker Rodriguez as he went through, collected a second yellow card in the 37th minute, and Sparta were down to ten.
Adams hits back, the bench takes over
Adams, who had come on at half-time, levelled in the 57th minute. Sparta tried to play out from the back, lost the ball, and Rodriguez went through before being stopped. The loose ball ran to Adams, who hit a first-time shot into the bottom left corner. Sky noted that manager Rose had been about to make three changes, and might have reconsidered.
He did not. Truffert, Evanilson and Tavernier replaced Soler, Gannon-Doak and Adli on the hour, and the game turned. Bournemouth pushed higher and kept the ball in Sparta's half. Hill's backheel was kept out after a short corner, Rodriguez wasted two decent chances, and Sparta, still working hard, kept the nerves in the away end alive for another twenty minutes.
Evanilson and Rayan seal it
The winner came in the 81st minute from the substitutes themselves. Truffert and Christie won the ball on the edge of the area, Christie found Evanilson, and the striker shifted it onto his right foot and slid it inside the post. Sky described the finish as inch perfect, and the confidence Evanilson plays with at present is obvious.
Rayan, on since the 72nd minute, made it safe with a hammered drive into the bottom right corner at the death. Sparta never stopped trying, and for that they deserve credit, but the outcome was the right one. A seventh straight victory suggests that Bournemouth's depth is a real asset, and it gives Rose a good deal of freedom going into the weekend's trip to Ipswich.
Match facts: Sparta Prague 1-3 Bournemouth, Europa League, Thursday 5 November 2026. Goals: Singhateh 35 (Sparta Prague); Adams 57, Evanilson 81, Rayan 90 (Bournemouth). Penalty missed: Cook (Bournemouth), 30 minutes. Sent off: Guddal (Sparta Prague), second yellow card, 37 minutes.
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