Aston Villa ruined Bournemouth's first taste of the Premier League as Benin striker Rudy Gestede marked his debut with the late goal that sealed a 1-0 win at Dean Court on Saturday. Playing in the top-flight for the first time in the club's 116-year history, Bournemouth's failure to turn their first half dominance into goals led to a painful lesson in the harsh realities of the Premier League.
Tim Sherwood's Villa played the role of party-poopers to perfection thanks to the second half header from Gestede, signed from Blackburn for £6 million ($9 million, 8.48 million euros) to fill the significant void left by Belgium forward Christian Benteke's move to Liverpool. Demoralised by their FA Cup final thrashing against Arsenal in May, the mood at Villa was hardly lifted by the pre-season departures of Benteke and Fabian Delph, who joined Manchester City, but this was the kind of gritty display they will need to replicate on a regular basis to avoid a repeat of last season's relegation battle.
It was a frustrating start to Premier League life for Championship winners Bournemouth, who came close to going into liquidation on three occasions in 2008 as the club languished in obscurity near the bottom of English football's fourth tier. Revitalised by the astute management of Eddie Howe and the petrochemical fortune of Russian investor Maxim Demin, Bournemouth have embarked on a fairytale journey to the top tier. With a capacity of 11,700, Dean Court is by far the smallest ground in the top-flight, but in the minutes before the long-awaited kick-off, Bournemouth's cramped stadium was a vibrant sea of red as the arrival of the Premier League energised the sleepy seaside town.