Palace Did Not Show Up. Bournemouth Did Not Care.
Jefferson Lerma scored in the 10th minute. Against his old club. Into his own net. That set the tone.
By half-time it was 2-0. Crystal Palace had not managed a single shot on target. Not one. In 45 minutes of a Premier League game.
Rayan made it 3-0 in the 77th. Done. Comfortable. Ruthless.
Fifteen Premier League games without a defeat. That is the longest unbeaten run of any side in Europe’s top five leagues right now. At Bournemouth. A club that were in the Championship not long ago. Let that sit for a second.
How It Happened
Bournemouth won a corner in the 10th minute. Evanilson got his head to it — glancing, redirected. Lerma was right there on the line. His clearance went the wrong way. Over the line before Henderson could claw it back.
Lerma against his former club. His own goal. His face said everything.
The second came on 32 minutes. Henderson scrambled to recover a ball he had dropped claiming a corner. Marcos Senesi arrived. Henderson went through him. Penalty. Harsh by most accounts. The contact was minimal. Kroupi did not care about the controversy — he stepped up and put it away.
2-0 at half-time. Palace had zero shots on target. Their first time failing to register a single attempt in the first half of a Premier League game since August 2021. That is how bad it was.
Why Palace Were So Poor
Glasner picked a changed side. He did not hide from it after the game.
Tyrick Mitchell — rested. Ismaila Sarr — rested. Jean-Philippe Mateta — rested. Adam Wharton — rested. Chris Richards — rested. All sitting on the bench at kick-off. All available. All kept back.
Why? Thursday. Conference League semi-final second leg against Shakhtar Donetsk. Palace won the first leg 3-1 and Glasner had one eye already on that. The biggest game in Palace’s history — his words — was four days away.
Fair enough. The problem was the players who started looked like they knew it too. No energy. No intensity. Loose in possession. Poor in the press. Bournemouth tore through them in the first half as if they were not there.
The second half was better after the substitutions came on. Sarr hit the post late. Strand Larsen skewed wide. A few moments. But 3-0 was 3-0 and nobody was clawing that back.
Kroupi and Rayan. Two Teenagers. Both Delivering.
Kroupi is 17. He scored from the penalty spot in front of 11,000 people with the match on the line at 1-0. He did not hesitate.
Twelve Premier League goals this season. No teenager in the history of the Premier League has scored more in their debut campaign. The record is his alone now.
Rayan is 18. He came on as a substitute and sealed the game in the 77th. David Brooks played him in, he drove toward goal and struck it sweetly across Henderson and inside the far post. Clean. Confident. Not the finish of a kid who does not believe.
Bournemouth are the first side ever to have two teenagers score in back-to-back Premier League matches. Ever. That is not a small thing.
Iraola spoke after the game with the calm of someone who has seen this team find ways to win all season. Fifteen games. He pointed out they are still not there yet. Three games left. Fulham away. Man City at home. Nottingham Forest away.
Europe Is Real
Sixth place. 52 points. One point ahead of Brentford in seventh with three games to go.
A year ago this club had never played in European football. Now they need one more win — maybe not even that — to guarantee it.
The away end barely made the trip down. What started as a mid-table season has become something worth following.
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Bournemouth 3-0 Crystal Palace Premier League Matchday 35 | Sunday, 3 May 2026 | Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth
Goals: Jefferson Lerma OG 10′ | Eli Junior Kroupi 32′ pen | Rayan 77′
Bournemouth XI: Petrovic | Truffert, Senesi, Hill, Jimenez | Scott, Adams | Tavernier, Kroupi, Rayan | Evanilson Subs: Brooks (for Tavernier), Sinisterra, others
Crystal Palace XI: Henderson | Munoz, Riad, Lacroix, Canvot | Devenny, Lerma | Kamada, Pino, Johnson | Strand Larsen Subs: Wharton, Sarr, Mitchell (all HT), Mateta (65′)
HT: 2-0 | FT: 3-0 Table: Bournemouth 6th (52 pts) | Brentford 7th (51 pts) | Crystal Palace 14th
