Substitute David Brooks's superb volley secured a deserved victory for hosts Bournemouth as they defeated a poor Everton 1-0 in their Premier League fixture at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
Bournemouth had found Everton tough to break down before Brooks showed excellent technique to volley Milos Kerkez’s cross into the net from 10 metres and give his side the lead on 77 minutes.
Everton created little in the contest and failed to muster a shot on target as their scoring woes this season continue and the spectre of relegation remains a major concern.
Bournemouth are in seventh place in the table with 33 points from 20 matches, while Everton have 17 points from 19 games and lie in 16th, two points above the relegation zone.
"It's nice to see it fly in," Brooks said. "Six or seven times you can see them spoon over the bar. When you play Everton, especially over the past few years, you know it's going to be a physical and tough game.
"You need a bit of quality to finish it off. It's not a game with a lot of clear-cut chances but we took one and got the three points."
Bournemouth have a club-record number of Premier League points at this stage of the season, and their 30 goals is also a new best mark after 20 matches.
By contrast, Everton have scored half that number and the result will put more pressure on manager Sean Dyche.
The Merseyside club have netted a single goal from open play in their last nine league matches.
Bournemouth had the ball in the back of the net inside 14 minutes but three players were offside, including scorer Antoine Semenyo.
The Bournemouth fans cruelly serenaded the visiting supporters with "how do you watch this every week?", but on this showing it was perhaps a valid question.
Everton brought on 17-year-old midfielder Harrison Armstrong at halftime for Orel Mangala as Nathan Patterson replaced Jesper Lindstrom in a clear indication that Dyche was not happy with his team’s first half.
The visitors were better defensively after the break but offered little going forward and, following Brooks's goal, Bournemouth were able to comfortably see out the game.
"The first half was not good enough from us and we know that," Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure said. "We tried in the second half to correct that and fight more for the first and second balls.
"Goals give you wins and at the moment we can't find a way to score goals. That's a fact. We cannot hide from that."