Cherries up to second thanks to more magic from Danjuma

With the game against Bristol City locked at 0-0 at Vitality Stadium, Danjuma was introduced from the bench with 15 minutes to play and wasted little time in making an impact.

The Dutchman burst away from his marker in the box before brilliantly flicking a left-footed effort past goalkeeper Daniel Bentley to notch his third goal of the campaign.

And that proved to be enough with Jason Tindall’s men holding on to win 1-0, preserving their unbeaten start to the Championship campaign and leaping up to second, six points off early league leaders Reading.

The best chances of a sluggish first half came the way of the visitors with Tomas Kalas, Tyreeq Bakinson and Famara Diedhiou all going close.

But Cherries improved after the restart with Joshua King looking a threat and Dominic Solanke also causing problems.

And the pressure paid off with around 10 minutes to play when super-sub Danjuma found the decisive breakthrough to earn victory.

Tindall made four changes from Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Watford. The injured Jefferson Lerma missed out, while Danjuma, Diego Rico and Philip Billing all dropped to the bench with Dan Gosling, Junior Stanislas, Solanke and Adam Smith all coming in.

There was still no David Brooks nor Cameron Carter-Vickers in the squad, as they continue to build up towards match fitness.

Bristol City, who arrived having lost just once in the league this season, created the first early chance when Chris Mepham’s clearance was charged down. The ball fell to Antoine Semenyo, who slipped away from Steve Cook’s slide in the box, but dragged his shot into the side netting.

The only other effort of note in the opening 15 minutes came the way of Cherries, with Stanislas firing a free-kick towards the top corner from 20 yards, but his effort flashed wide.

Chances were few and far between for the hosts, with nothing quite clicking in the attacking third. The Robins were carving out the clearest openings, almost finding a way through on a counter-attack with Bakinson’s low shot from just inside the box superbly tipped behind by Asmir Begovic.

Diedhiou headed over from the resulting corner.

Another set piece caused Cherries problems on the half hour mark, with skipper Kalas rising highest, but King was alert to head it clear off the line.

Solanke found space in the box at the other end shortly afterwards, but his strike towards the bottom corner was tipped around the post by goalkeeper Daniel Bentley at his near post.

Bristol City had the final chance as the half entered its final few seconds. Just as the heavens opened for a brief downpour, Diedhiou got away from Steve Cook, but his effort was deflected onto the base of the post by an important Lloyd Kelly block.

Cherries looked a much livelier threat straight after the restart, with King at the heart of the action. The Norway international first teed up Gosling, who scuffed a volley wide, before taking aim himself from the edge of the box, but his shot was blocked by Zak Vyner.

The hosts then went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock, when former Bristol City man Kelly broke into the box and crossed low towards Solanke. The striker was being marked tightly by Kalas, and the ball came off the pair and across to strike the inside of the far post before bouncing away to safety.

The shots kept coming inside the first few minutes of the half, with Stanislas the next to try his luck, firing narrowly wide from just outside the area, before Solanke had a shot charged down from a similar position.

Pressure was mounting as Cherries parked themselves in the Bristol half. Lewis Cook, who is yet to find the net for Cherries since joining in 2016, connected well with an effort from 25 yards, but it was straight into the arms of Bentley.

The hosts also saw a loud penalty claim waved away by referee Stephen Martin after Solanke went down in the box as the game moved into the final 20 minutes.

Tindall turned to his bench, introducing Danjuma in place of Stanislas.

And the Dutchman made an almost instant impact. Having already seen an early sighter fly wide, Danjuma broke the deadlock just five minutes after coming on. Lewis Cook played the ball into the feet of Solanke, who teed up Danjuma to burn past Vyner and expertly dink a shot left-footed over the advancing Bentley.

The Robins threw on striking duo Chris Martin and Nahki Wells for the closing stages, but Danjuma’s effort was enough.

Cherries: Begovic; Mepham, S Cook, Kelly; Stacey, Gosling, L Cook, Smith; Stanislas (Danjuma, 75); King, Solanke.

Unused subs: Simpson, Rico, Billing, Riquelme, Surridge, Travers (g/k).

Bristol City: Bentley; Vyner, Kalas, Moore; Hunt (Wells, 83), Paterson, Bakinson, O’Dowda, Rowe; Diedhiou (Martin, 83), Semenyo (Brunt, 78).

Unused subs: DaSilva, Nagy, Massengo, O’Leary (g/k).

Referee: Stephen Martin.