Dream night for Bournemouth – win over Milan a sign of Premier League power

Bournemouth's 3-0 win against AC Milan further illustrated the dominance of Premier League sides against their European counterparts. Bournemouth have beaten Real Sociedad, Sturm Graz, and now AC Milan in the Europa League At times, being a Bournemouth fan must feel like living in a simulation. That was certainly the case on Thursday night as the Cherries beat seven-time continental champions AC Milan 3-0 in only their third-ever European fixture. Justin Kluivert scored the opener at Vitality Stadium, 31 years after his father, Patrick, scored the winning goal for Ajax against Milan in the Champions League final. Having seen their club narrowly avoid the jaws of liquidation in 2008, not many Bournemouth fans would have dreamed that famous name would one day appear on their shirts.

"It's mega. In terms of the story of the club it's ridiculous. Someone told me today, 15 years ago today we were 17th in League One, so it's pretty incredible," Bournemouth midfielder Ryan Christie told TNT Sports. "So many of these fans have been here for this journey so to have nights like this and win as well is special." To add to the peculiarity of the situation, Milan fielded more English players in their starting XI (three) than the hosts (two). While the sending off of Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan killed the contest