Evanilson did not need a clean chance to make Bournemouth history on Sunday. He needed Ipswich Town to play out from the back. The Brazilian robbed goalkeeper Christian Walton for the fifth-minute opener at Portman Road and then forced the turnover behind the second goal 27 seconds after halftime, as Bournemouth won 2-1 for their eighth straight victory.
The goal made Evanilson the first Bournemouth player to score in five straight Premier League games, according to Sports Mole. The win, the Cherries' fourth in a row in the league, equaled the club-record run of eight straight victories in all competitions, the Bournemouth Daily Echo noted.
Two goals, one pattern
The opener started with a routine back pass. Ipswich captain Dara O'Shea played the ball to Walton, who took a touch and tried to dribble around Evanilson instead of clearing it. Evanilson took the ball off him and rolled it into an empty net.
The second came from the same pressure. Abdoul Ouattara gave the ball away to Evanilson right after the restart, the Daily Echo described it as an interception of a poor pass back toward Walton, and the striker moved it on. The ball reached Ryan Christie, whose rising shot deflected off Issa Diop and then the chest of left back Leif Davis for an own goal.
Neither goal will look like much on a highlights reel. Both are exactly what Marco Rose talked about on Thursday night in Prague, when he said Evanilson "used every trigger he can get for pressing." Three days later, at Portman Road, those triggers produced the only two goals Bournemouth scored.
It nearly produced a third. Evanilson later flicked a ball back across the face of goal from a free kick, and James Hill headed over from close range.
Ipswich's early problem
Ipswich's habit of starting slowly made the opener less of a fluke than it looked. The Daily Mail counted it as the sixth time Gary O'Neil's side have conceded inside the first 15 minutes of a league game this season, and they have yet to score that early themselves.
The hosts did push back late. Lewis Cook was ruled to have fouled Ouattara in the box, and Jack Clarke converted the penalty in the 73rd minute. Before that, Ipswich had not registered a shot or even a touch in Bournemouth's box in the second half, according to Sky Sports. Julio Enciso then had a free kick tipped over by Djordje Petrovic, and Bournemouth survived nine minutes of stoppage time.
On paper it was even. Ipswich had 55.9 percent of the ball and 10 shots to Bournemouth's 15, per ESPN's match data, with Bournemouth putting four on target to Ipswich's two. The difference was where the ball was won.
Rose's number, two days later
Rose put a "15 or 20 goals" target on Evanilson before this trip. Sunday's goal was his seventh in his last eight matches across all competitions, the Press Association reported, after he failed to score in his first six appearances of the season. In the league alone he now has five goals and four assists in 10 games, according to Sports Mole.
The streak began on Oct. 10 with a consolation goal in a 5-1 loss at Chelsea, and continued in wins over Sunderland, Manchester United and Leeds United before Sunday. His 21st Premier League goal for the club moved him past Junior Stanislas into seventh on Bournemouth's all-time list, one behind teammate Justin Kluivert and two behind Marcus Tavernier.
The U.S. angle and the break
Tyler Adams started in midfield and played the full match, as Rose named the same lineup that beat Leeds last weekend. Alex Scott was back on the bench after missing the previous eight games through injury, and Eli Junior Kroupi came on in the 68th minute, both useful signs for a squad that has been stretched by the Europa League.
Bournemouth go into the November break seventh with 15 points from 10 games, three points off the top four, per Sky Sports. Ipswich stay on 11 points with one win in their last seven.
The record is the headline, but the method is what should worry the teams Bournemouth face after the break. A striker who scores from his own pressure does not need a team to create chances for him, and right now Evanilson is turning opponents' back passes into goals.
