Evanilson scored his first Bournemouth goal while Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo were also on target as south coast rivals Southampton were brushed aside in a routine 3-1 victory.
Brazilian forward Evanilson steered past ex-Cherries goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale after 17 minutes at the Vitality Stadium on Monday thanks to Marcus Tavernier's quick thinking from a Bournemouth free-kick.
Ouattara was credited with Bournemouth's second after Semenyo's cut-back was drilled towards goal by Lewis Cook before diverting past Ramsdale off his team-mate.
Semenyo then put the cherry atop the cake in a wonderful first-half performance, shimmying this way and that before drilling into the bottom-left corner in the 38th minute.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis reduced the arrears early in a second half, stooping low to nod in from Mateus Fernandes' cross five minutes after the restart, having been brilliantly denied by Kepa Arrizabalaga shortly before.
But the remainder of the second half passed by without major incident as Saints, who remain winless from six Premier League games, were left to rue a horror show of a first half.
Data Debrief: Sorry Saints can't get marching
It was a desperately disappointing outing for the visitors, whose 19-game winless streak in the Premier League is their longest in the competition.
Moreover, the defeat means the 2024-25 campaign is the first Premier League season since the 2004-05 campaign in which each of the three promoted sides have failed to win any of their opening six games of the season.
Indeed, as many as five clubs have now yet to get a win from the first six games. Only twice in top-flight history (1964-65 and 2021-22) has this occurred – with Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Wolves joining Southampton in failing to chalk up a win.
For Bournemouth, Evanilson scored his first Premier League goal from his 10th shot attempt in the competition, becoming the first Brazilian to net for the club in the competition, while Semenyo has had a hand in 10 goals in his past 20 top-flight games (eight goals, two assists).
Los Angeles FC v St. Louis City SC: Cherundolo hails 'unstoppable' Bouanga
Los Angeles FC coach Steve Cherundolo labelled Denis Bouanga as "unstoppable" when the forward is at his best.
Bouanga came off the bench to score the winner as LAFC beat FC Cincinnati 2-1 over the weekend.
That victory saw LAFC, fresh from winning the US Open Cup, clinch their spot in the playoffs.
Bouanga, who has scored 18 goals and set up a further eight in MLS this season, was not impressed with having to settle for a super-sub role, but Cherundolo cares not.
"Denis always wants to play; he never wants to rest," Cherundolo said.
"He was quite upset with me for not starting. And that's okay. Everybody can hate me, that's fine.
"But I think freshness and also making sure he's getting enough rest makes him also better.
"Obviously, he's physically capable of playing every game, but when he loses his explosiveness, he is still extremely good and we're happy to have him.
"But with explosiveness and freshness, he's unstoppable."
Ahead of playing St. Louis City SC on Wednesday, the challenge that now faces LAFC is to go on and secure a home playoff seed.
"To have that sort of response, it's going to be huge going forward for us," defender Ryan Hollingshead said after the win over Cincinnati.
"The team's already confident. And then you throw that result on top of it, I think it's going to be exactly what we need to go get a really good seed in the West moving forward and then go make another run for a cup."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
LAFC - Kei Kamara
Kamara set up LAFC's opener against Cincinnati.
It was Kamara's 49th assist in MLS. He is now one away from becoming the fifth player in league history with 100 goals and 50 assists.
St. Louis City SC - Cedric Teuchert
Teuchert has recorded eight goal contributions in his first seven MLS matches (five goals, three assists), including three in Saturday's win over Sporting Kansas City.
He is the first player to record eight goal contributions in his first seven MLS matches since Alejandro Pozuelo (10) in 2019.
MATCH PREDICTION: LAFC WIN
St. Louis, who are 12th in the Western Conference, are unbeaten in four straight away matches for the first time in club history. Indeed, they have lost only six of their last 15 on the road dating back to the beginning of March (W1 D8).
However, LAFC are nevertheless backed by Opta's predictor. They have now hit 50 points in five of their six full MLS seasons, becoming one of two teams, along with the Philadelphia Union, to reach 50 points five times in the last six full seasons dating back to 2018 (excluding the shortened 2020 season).
The omens are good for LAFC, who are unbeaten against St. Louis, winning two of the three meetings (D1). In fact, LAFC have kept clean sheets in all three matches against St. Louis, making them the only opponent the latter have faced but never scored against.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
LAFC - 62.1%
St. Louis City - 17.8%
Draw - 20%
Barcelona set €500m buyout clause for teenage gem Marc Bernal after 'contract adjustment'
Barcelona have set midfielder Marc Bernal's buyout clause at €500million and extended the 17-year-old's contract until June 2026, the LaLiga club said on Monday
When Spaniard Bernal will no longer be an Under-19 player in 2026, he will have an option to extend for an additional three years, Barca added.
Bernal ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during Barca's 2-1 victory at Rayo Vallecano last month, where he was forced off the pitch in the final minutes.
A product of Barcelona's youth academy, Bernal has made three league appearances since his debut for the senior team in their LaLiga opener against Valencia.
"Barcelona and Marc Bernal have reached an agreement on an adjustment of the player's contract, which binds him to the club until 30 June 2026, when his status as an U19 player ends, with the option to three more years," a Barca statement read on Monday.
"The buyout clause has been set at €500million.
"Marc Bernal was, until his unfortunate injury, the huge sensation at the start of the season.
"After he joined manager Hansi Flick for the pre-season, the German coach was convinced that he was ready to move up to the next level.
"The club is convinced that he is a fabulous investment for the future and has reflected this belief with today's new deal."
Furious Martin 'hurt' by abject Southampton in Bournemouth defeat
Russell Martin said he was "hurt" by Southampton's first-half performance and he did not recognise his side in an abject 3-1 loss to south coast rivals Bournemouth.
The Saints found themselves 3-0 down at the break at the Vitality Stadium on Monday as goals from Evanilson, Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo had Bournemouth in cruise control.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis gave Southampton a fighting chance early in the second half but the damage was already done, leaving Martin's men winless and with a just a solitary point from six Premier League games.
"It [the first goal] disrupts everything, not just concentration. We started really well with two good moments in the game," the Southampton boss told Sky Sports.
"We showed the guys how Bournemouth like to play quick free-kicks, but we switched off in exactly the same way we did against [Manchester] United and we again didn't respond well after a set-back.
"I'm so hurt by the first-half performance after the first goal - I didn't recognise our team.
"Normally I'm proud of them for the courage they show, but there was no aggression, no courage, no intensity to play. They were in self-preservation mode on the pitch and the body language I didn't recognise.
"I didn't recognise them and I didn't like it one bit. In the second half we showed a lot of fight and courage but it was too late. It's on me to give them the tools to come back from a setback but we have not learned from the Manchester United game two weeks ago and that's a problem.
"We were soft. If you do not run and fight, make contact and take things personally then it's going to be a problem."
He added: "I have to question myself. I thought I made enough of a deal about how Bournemouth approach the game and how they are good at certain things but it looks like we were unprepared and considering the work we have done is crazy.
"I will never ever blame a group of players, we're together but I didn't like what I saw and am hurt by the lack of spirit and fight, that's nothing I've not told the team. It's my problem to sort out.
"I didn't identify my team in the first half in terms of attitude, spirit and fight. I didn't get this far as a player or a manager on just talent, it's about mentality and I've not passed that on enough to the players."
Semenyo scored his third Premier League goal of the season with a wonderful solo effort that rounded off an opening period of Bournemouth dominance, while the first was a bit of quick thinking from Marcus Tavernier to set up Evanilson's first for the club.
Semenyo told Sky Sports: "We watched a couple of videos in the meetings in the week and we knew we could catch them out with quick free-kicks.
"Buzzing for Evanilson - he is going be a problem this year."
On his own effort, he added: "It felt wonderful. I wanted to create space and get a shot away.
"It rifled in the bottom corner, a great finish."
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