Bournemouth, Palace and Sunderland All Win on Europa League Debuts

A CLEAN SWEEP FOR ENGLAND'S NEWCOMERS

Three Premier League clubs made their first appearances in the UEFA Europa League on Wednesday night, and by the final whistles across Europe all three had won. Bournemouth beat Real Sociedad 2-1 away at Anoeta, Crystal Palace thrashed Lech Poznan 4-0, and Sunderland beat AZ Alkmaar 1-0 to mark their first European fixture in 53 years. For a competition that can be brutal to newcomers, it was as clean a start as any of the three could have asked for.

BOURNEMOUTH FINALLY HOLD A LEAD

Bournemouth's result carried the most weight given how their season had gone until Wednesday. Justin Kluivert scored the club's first competitive European goal in just the 11th minute, timing a run in behind after Adrien Truffert broke down the left, with the goal awarded after a VAR review overturned an offside flag. Nine minutes later Alex Scott curled a ball to the back post for Rayan to head Bournemouth 2-0 up inside 20 minutes on their first-ever European night, in the club's 127th year of existence.

What followed tested them more than the scoreline suggested. Sergio Gomez pulled a goal back for Real Sociedad in the 57th minute, and the hosts controlled 70 percent of the second-half possession, firing 12 shots and winning eight corners after the break alone. Goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic held Bournemouth's lead together, making four saves in total including two in the closing minutes to deny Orri Oskarsson, once in the 84th minute and again with almost the last kick of the match.

The result mattered beyond three points because of what Bournemouth had been doing all season under Marco Rose. They had led Manchester City before losing 2-1, led Everton before drawing 1-1, gone 2-0 up at Newcastle before drawing 2-2, and led Brentford before that too finished level. Across those four matches they had surrendered nine points from winning positions. At Anoeta, with a place in Europe on the line for the first time in the club's history, the equalizer never came.

PALACE AND SUNDERLAND ADD THEIR OWN HISTORY

Crystal Palace made their own Europa League bow a rout rather than a survival act. Goals from Yeremy Pino in the 10th minute, Chris Richards in the 27th, a Jorgen Strand Larsen penalty in the 34th and a Nketiah strike in second-half stoppage time gave Palace a 4-0 win over Lech Poznan and the biggest margin of victory among the three English debutants.

Sunderland's night carried its own significance. Their 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar marked a return to European competition after a 53-year absence, the longest gap of any club playing in this season's league phase.

WHAT'S NEXT

Bournemouth return home to face Sturm Graz on October 15 before hosting AC Milan a week later, fixtures that already look more valuable after Wednesday's three points. Real Sociedad, who managed 16 shots to Bournemouth's 11 but only the one goal, travel to Union SG on the same date looking to find the finishing edge that deserted them at Anoeta. For all three English sides, the opening night answered the only question that mattered on debut: whether they belonged on this stage. For now, each has a perfect record to defend.