| Middlesbrough, who have not won in 16 league games, had a nightmare opening 20 minutes in which they conceded two goals and had midfielder Gaston Ramirez sent off for a second booking |
Bournemouth boosted their chances of staying in the Premier League with a crushing 4-0 win over 10-man Middlesbrough that pushed their opponents towards the relegation precipice on Saturday.
Middlesbrough, who have not won in 16 league games, had a nightmare opening 20 minutes in which they conceded two goals and had midfielder Gaston Ramirez sent off for a second booking.
Bournemouth, who ended a run of four league games without a win, were ahead after 96 seconds with Joshua King’s 11th goal in 13 matches and two up when Benik Afobe punished more slack Boro defending from Charlie Daniels’ through ball in the 16th minute.
The visitors, with Ramirez already booked for a dive in the Cherries’ box, had the Uruguayan sent off after 20 minutes for a lunging tackle on winger Marc Pugh.
Pugh marked his 250th league game for Bournemouth with their third in the 65th and Daniels added the fourth five minutes later.
Elsewhere, relegation-threatened Swansea City kept their hopes of staying in the Premier League alive by beating Stoke City 2-0 after goals by Fernando Llorente and Tom Carroll.
Llorente gave Swansea the lead with a trademark header from a corner in the 10th minute, helping his team stay within touching distance of fourth-bottom Hull City, who are still two points ahead of the Swans after beating Watford 2-0.
Stoke were awarded a penalty in the second half, but Marko Arnautovic blazed his spot-kick over the bar and Swansea doubled their lead a minute later after Tom Carroll’s shot found the top corner via a deflection off Joe Allen.
Carroll almost scored a second as Swansea carved Stoke open, but Stoke keeper Jack Butland, making his first appearance after a year out with an ankle injury, pulled off an acrobatic save to deny him.
West Ham and Everton meanwhile played out a 0-0 draw in a desperately poor encounter at the London Stadium.
It took 28 minutes for the first effort on goal and recalled Everton goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg saved comfortably from Havard Nordtveit’s shot from outside the box.
Visiting manager Ronald Koeman made a double change at the break, introducing Gareth Barry and Ademola Lookman, and the tempo improved in the second period.
Lookman forced two opportunities in quick succession and put both wide, while Stekelenburg saved from Manuel Lanzini but there were few nervous moments for either side