Bournemouth 2-0 Southampton: Cook and Afobe earn Cherries three crucial points - 5 things we learned

Eddie Howe's side are now eight points clear of the relegation zone after this south coast derby win

Benik Afobe put the seal on the "other" south coast derby as Bournemouth gave their hopes of Premier League survival a real boost against Southampton.

The £10million January buy from Wolves notched his fourth goal in eight games after Steve Cook's acrobatic finish gave the Cherries a first-half lead.

It was a result Eddie Howe's men thoroughly deserved, Southampton just not turning up.

And Ronald Koeman's side now face a major battle if they are to claim the Europa League spot they'd been pushing for.

Here are five things we learned from the game.

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Serving up three points: Cook scores for Bournemouth

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And celebrates another critical goal

1) Gradel back - and at the perfect time

Eddie Howe will feel like he has landed a new signing now Maxi Gradel is back.

The Ivorian - snapped up for £7million last summer - made his first start since suffering cruciate ligament damage against Leicester in August and looked lively throughout.

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Make that two: Afobe shows his delight at the second

2) New dad King crowns perfect day

Who's the daddy? Well, as of this/yesterday morning Josh King can stake his claim.

The Bournemouth striker became a father for the first time just after 8am when his partner gave birth to a son, Noah.

Congratulations, both.

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Kevin Friend was taken to hospital after passing out before half time and hitting his head

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Dean Treleaven took over Friend's duties

3) Dean Treleaven's presence fortunate

Kevin Friend might want to give Arsenal keeper Petr Cech a call to discuss the merits of wearing a headguard after bashing his bonce on the Southampton dugout.

The fourth official passed out and suffered a cut to his head after stumbling backwards at the end of the first half and was taken to hospital to be checked out.

Conference referee Dean Treleaven was called in to replace him on the sidelines and, thankfully, kept his feet.

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Simon Francis and Oriol Romeu battle for the ball

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Adam Smith and Sadio Mane of Southampton look to gain advantage

4) Feeling more at home

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe admitted his club's home form was starting to become a concern ahead of the run-in.

His side impressed here but with Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea among those still to visit Dean Court they will face sterner tests than the one posed by Southampton and will need to take it up another level again if they are to continue making home advantage count.

5) Wanyama a huge miss

Oriol Romeu has been lauded for his performances in recent weeks, with many convinced he was more important than Victor Wanyama.

But Wanyama's presence wasn't half missed here and with two games of his five-match ban still to run the Saints are paying the price of his indiscipline.

Player ratings by Adrian Kajumba

Bournemouth

• Boruc 7 - Safe hands against old club. Reliable when called on.
• Smith 7 - Bags of energy and got forward at every opportunity.
• Francis 7 - Cool customer in defence for skipper. Led by example.
• Cook 7 - Showed instincts of a striker to score brilliant opener.
• Daniels 7 - Continued his good form. Got forward well to support Gradel
• Ritchie 6 - Lively all night and wicked free-kick led to goal.
• Arter 7 - Hassled, harried and disrupted Southampton in all-action display.
• Surman 7 - Neat and tidy. Kept things ticking over in midfield.
• Gradel 6 - Caught the eye in flashes on his first start since return from injury.
• King 7 - Lively performance. Posed Southampton real problems with his pace.
• Afobe 5 - Didn’t see much of ball and struggled to get into the game.
• Subs - Gosling (Arter 65) 6

Southampton

• Forster 6 - Good reactions to deny Ritchie twice. Helpless for goal.
• Yoshida 5 - Little time to make impress before being subbed in tactical switch.
• Fonte 6 - Comfortable until forced wide by pacy Cherries forwards.
• Van Dijk 7 - Only mistake was a costly one – lost Cook for goal.
• Soares 6 - Set up Austin chance but pushed back for most of game.
• Romeu 6 - Got stuck in as usual but lucky to escape booking.
• Ward-Prowse 5 - A threat from set pieces but was quiet otherwise.
• Bertrand 6 - Played wing-back and left back and untroubled in both roles.
• Mane 5 - Tried his luck in number of positions but had little impact.
• Austin 5 - Quiet after missing early chance he should have scored.
• Long 5 - Worked hard as always but little chance to threaten goal.
• Subs - Davis (Yoshida 34) 5, Pelle (Austin 60) 6