‘Evanilson is on fire’ – Tyler Adams hails striker as Bournemouth win again
The Brazilian was on target against Sparta Prague.
Bournemouth striker Evanilson is “on fire”, according to team-mate Tyler Adams after the Brazilian scored his seventh goal of the season against 10-man Sparta Prague.
The 27-year-old stuck a brilliant finish across the goalkeeper into the corner in the 81st minute to put his team in front for the first time in the Czech capital, with the Cherries going on to win 3-1.
It maintained their perfect start in the Europa League with four wins from four, leaving them in a strong position to progress directly into the last 16.
“(Evanilson) is on fire right now,” said Adams, whose goal in the 57th minute levelled the game.
Speaking to TNT Sports, he added: “You see him work on it in training, he does extra work on his finishing every day after training so for him to do it in a game is no surprise.
“He has so much quality, so whenever he gets in and around the box we are confident that is going to find the back of the net.”
Bournemouth, who have now won seven matches in a row for the first time since 2014, were awarded a first-half penalty for handball, but Lewis Cook’s kick struck a post.
Sparta then went ahead via a brilliant individual goal from Gambian forward Ebrima Singhateh.
Tobias Guddal let his team down badly when he picked up a second yellow card within two minutes of his side taking the lead.
The visitors made the extra man count and equalised just before the hour mark.
Alvaro Rodriguez found his path to goal blocked on the edge of the box, but Sparta were unable fully to clear, the ball breaking to Adams, who rifled it first time into the bottom corner.
Bournemouth were soon well on top and deserved their winning goal.
Adrien Truffert won the ball on the edge of the area, Ryan Christie took over and slipped in Evanilson, who showed wonderful feet to make space and finish into the far corner.
Substitute Rayan drilled in a third from range in the last minute.
“We can’t get too comfortable,” said Adams. “You have to be able to hold that winning standard, that winning mentality becomes contagious, especially when you are playing every three days.
“It doesn’t feel that long ago since we lost 5-1 to Chelsea and that stings a little bit, we don’t want to feel that ever again.
“I think we turned a page and we have been a more mature team ever since that – the way that we defend, the way that we take pride in the mentality of making sure we don’t give the opposition any opportunity to breathe.
“Everyone is working hard every day in training. Guys that aren’t playing are working hard, the guys that are playing are working hard, so there’s a lot of competition, but that breeds success. I’m happy with the team’s performance.”