Superb Semenyo salvages win for Bournemouth on stormy night

Bournemouth, Oct. 5: Bournemouth came from 1-0 down and scored three late goals to defeat Fulham 3-1 in a pulsating and blustery Premier League encounter.

Antoine Semenyo scored twice and was outstanding for the home side which moved into second place in the table and extended its unbeaten run to six games since losing against champion Liverpool on the opening weekend.

There was little goalmouth action in the first half as both sides struggled to impose themselves in the wet and windy conditions that assailed England's south coast.

But the game sparked into life in the last quarter, with Ryan Sessegnon giving Fulham the lead after 70 minutes when he ran into the box to poke home a neat pass from Samuel Chukwueze.

However, the home side got back into the game eight minutes later when a spritely Semenyo scored from the tightest of angles, knocking the ball through goalkeeper Bernd Leno's legs.

Then substitute Justin Kluivert gave Bournemouth the lead when he smashed home a long-range strike with six minutes left on the clock.

Semenyo added a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time when he finished off a counterattack by coolly burying a pass from Ben Gannon-Doak. The goals took Semenyo's league tally to six in seven games.

"What an evening," a delighted Semenyo said. "I can't even explain what's going on, this feeling. Going second, going into the international break. It's an achievement for us, we've just got to keep going.

"They went in front, it was a bit frustrating. But we had our moments, our spells, we just needed to finish our chances, and we did that in the end."

It was an infuriating case of déjà vu for Fulham, which has lost five of the last eight games in which it scored first.

The Cottagers have dropped more points from wining positions than any other club except Brentford since the start of last season. Its sits in 11th place.

"It is really disappointing," Fulham defender Joachim Anderson said. "We held them for the big chances and were solid. Then we got the goal and it was about sticking together and fighting — we did that but those two goals from nowhere changed the game.

"It is a punch in the face but we need to keep our head high and move on."

Similarly in Bundesliga, a super solo goal from Saïd El Mala gave Cologne a 1-0 win at Hoffenheim and lifted it into fourth place in the Bundesliga on Friday.

Lukas Kwasniok's side started the season with two wins but hadn't won in three until El Mala up front and Marvin Schwäbe in goal helped it to all three points at PreZero Arena.

With 16 minutes gone, El Mala picked up the ball just inside the Hoffenheim half and drove forward, beating three defenders before firing home a brilliant solo effort. Kwasniok recalled the 19-year-old winger after he missed last week's defeat at home to Stuttgart.

Schwäbe was in fine form at the other end as Cologne moved on to 10 points from six games.

For Hoffenheim, it was a fifth league defeat in a row at home. It has seven points from six games.

Likewise in Ligue 1, Ilan Kebbal continued his stirring start to Ligue 1 with a fourth goal in seven games to put Paris FC on its way to a 2-0 win over visitor Lorient on Friday. Kebbal found space inside a crowded penalty box to slot home the opener after 24 minutes and take him to the top of the Ligue 1 goal-scoring chart. The midfielder also has two assists.

Moses Simon caused Lorient all kinds of problems on the left flank and it was his trickery that led to Paris' second goal five minutes later; Jean-Philippe Krasso superbly turned in his low cross to make up for an earlier effort that was chalked off for offside.

The result lifted Paris to eighth place with 10 points from seven games.Lorient has seven points and was in 13th spot.

Meanwhile in Italian Serie A, Andrea Pinamonti scored a second-half winner for Sassuolo to leave Verona still seeking a first win in Serie A on Friday.

The well-travelled center forward saw his 71st minute spot kick saved by Lorenzo Montipò but he stabbed home the rebound to lift the newly promoted side into eighth place.

It was a rare away win for a club that lost 12 of its previous 15 top-flight away matches and an even rarer clean sheet.

The 1-0 win was its first clean sheet in 28 away matches in Serie A.

Verona has scored a league-low two goals in six games and sits fourth from bottom in the 20-team league.

Similalry, Osasuna came from behind to beat Getafe 2-1 with a last-minute goal in La Liga.

Borja Mayoral put Getafe 1-0 up with a low shot midway through the first half.

Abel Bretones equalized seconds before halftime with a sensational curling shot that gave the Getafe goalkeeper no chance.

However, Alejandro Catena's glancing header from a 90th minute corner guaranteed the home side all three points.

It was a welcome fightback for a team that had taken one point from its last nine and lifted it into 11th place in the 20-team table. Getafe was one point above it in eighth.

"We were coming off a very bad game," Catena told broadcaster DAZN. "We competed and got the reward that we hadn't got on other occasions." (AP)