AFC Bournemouth beat Leicester City 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium thanks to two goals from Antoine Semenyo.
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Having lost their last two games, Bournemouth rounded out a hugely positive campaign on a winning note thanks to one of their stars of the season.
Already-relegated Leicester struggled to create any clear-cut opportunities, with their best chance coming in the opening 10 minutes – an Oliver Skipp volley that flew over the bar.
But Semenyo lit up the match in the final 16 minutes of normal time, breaking the deadlock in the 74th before hammering in his second in the 88th, with the latter goal teed up by Dean Huijsen on his final game before he heads to Real Madrid.
Bournemouth finish in ninth on 56 points, while Leicester end their campaign in 18th, on 25 points.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 |
Brighton
BHA
|
38 | +7 | 61 |
| 9 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
38 | +12 | 56 |
| 10 |
Brentford
BRE
|
38 | +9 | 56 |
| 11 |
Fulham
FUL
|
38 | 0 | 54 |
How the match unfolded
Leicester’s best chance came early on when Skipp found space in the penalty area, however the midfielder could not keep his volley down at Kepa goal.
Both Evanilson and Justin Kluivert dragged shots wide of the post in the opening 15 minutes, before David Brooks had a volley saved after an excellent cross from Marcus Tavernier.
Bournemouth took the lead in the 74th minute when Illia Zabarnyi knocked down Tyler Adams' looping cross for Semenyo, whose scuffed shot found its way past Jakub Stolarczyk.
Daniel Jebbison, who saw what would have been an opener earlier ruled out after the ball had gone out of play in the build-up, could have doubled the hosts' advantage but snatched at the chance when blasting his effort wide from inside the area.
Bournemouth’s second strike followed with two minutes of normal time remaining when Boubakary Soumare lost possession to Huijsen, before the departing defender teed up Semenyo to fire past Stolarczyk and seal a triumphant end to another fine campaign.
Record-breaking season for Bournemouth
Andoni Iraola may have some disappointment after not managing European qualification, but there was plenty to celebrate for Bournemouth following another impressive campaign.
Bournemouth set new club records for points, goals scored, and goals against in the Premier League, after Semenyo’s double means they eclipsed their 2018/19 goals total.
If not for a poor end to the season prior to this victory, Bournemouth could have finished in a club-record eighth – they ended only five points behind Brighton & Hove Albion.
On Sunday, they showed that they deserve to be in the top half of the Premier League after a dominant display against struggling Leicester, whose preparations for Championship football will likely already be well underway.
An improving season still comes at a cost, however, as Huijsen prepares for his move to Madrid after only joining Bournemouth from Juventus ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
Iraola will be hoping that the towering centre-back is the only one of their stars to move on as Bournemouth aim to further surge up the Premier League and compete with England's elite clubs.
Leicester disappointment compounded
After Leicester's relegation was confirmed last month, Ruud van Nistelrooy's side collected more points in the last five games than in their previous 19 in the Premier League.
Back-to-back home wins against fellow relegated sides Southampton and Ipswich Town left supporters with something to smile about, and muted optimism in the face of adversity.
Jamie Vardy scored in both of those games, bringing up 200 goals for the club, but opted to sit out of this one after playing his 500th game in Leicester colours last weekend.
They will have an important transfer window ahead trying to replace their talisman, and their attacking weakness was clear for all to see in this drab defeat at the Vitality Stadium.
Leicester never looked like scoring in this match, though did have a first-half goal ruled out after Luke Thomas was well offside in the build-up before setting up Skipp to finish with the game goalless at that point.
Van Nistelrooy's side mustered only three shots all game, with none of those on target, highlighting Leicester's desperate need to improve at both ends of the pitch if they are to secure an immediate return back to the Premier League.
Club reports
Bournemouth report | Leicester report
PL clubs' summer 2025 pre-season friendly fixtures
Key facts
Bournemouth have won five of their seven Premier League home games against Leicester (D2), netting 14 goals - only against Everton (W6 GF17) have they won more matches and scored more goals on home turf in the competition.
Leicester lost 25 Premier League games this season (W6 D7), they’ve never lost more in a single league campaign in their history (also 25 in 1977/78 and 1994/95).
Semenyo’s second goal for Bournemouth was their 58th Premier League goal of the season, their most in a single campaign, while they’ve hit 200+ shots on target for the first time in the competition (202).
Leicester failed to have a shot on target for the third time in a Premier League game this season; no team did so more often in the competition.
