Bournemouth ended their historic Premier League campaign in sixth place, securing European football for the first time in the club's history, though their Champions League hopes were dashed by results elsewhere. A 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest, courtesy of Marcus Tavernier's second-half strike, was not enough to leapfrog Aston Villa into fifth, as Villa's shock win at Manchester City and Liverpool's failure to beat Brentford denied Andoni Iraola's side a top-four finish.
The Cherries, who finished with a record 57 points, will now compete in the Europa League next season. Iraola described the achievement as 'the most incredible', with the team completing the second half of the season unbeaten. Four years ago, Bournemouth were in the Championship, and 17 years ago they were on the brink of financial collapse, making their rise all the more remarkable.
Morgan Gibbs-White opened the scoring for Forest with a free-kick, but the midfielder was left out of Thomas Tuchel's England squad despite 19 Premier League goal contributions. 'I know I have done more than enough to be in the squad,' Gibbs-White said. 'I just got on the wrong side of someone's opinion.'
Bournemouth's leveller came from a fine move involving Adrien Truffert, who burst forward on the overlap and pulled the ball back for Tavernier to rifle home. The visitors had chances to win, with substitute Ben Gannon-Doak missing a clear opportunity, but they ultimately had to settle for a point.
Iraola, whose name was chanted by the away fans, reflected on the season with pride. 'I think I enjoyed every second with the fans, the players,' he said. 'It is so nice to finish like this.' The club's supporters had sung of facing Bayern Munich and Barcelona, but will now have to lower their sights to teams like Bayer Leverkusen and Besiktas in the Europa League.
