Rayan scored the winner as Bournemouth edged out fellow European hopefuls Fulham 1-0 to boost their hopes of securing continental football next season.

The Brazilian's deflected strike early in the second half was enough to seal all three points at Craven Cottage, where both sides played the entire second half with 10 men after Ryan Christie and Joachim Andersen's dismissals.

Fulham went close to breaking the deadlock in the 29th minute when Timothy Castagne's cross was met by Rodrigo Muniz after a neat move, but the forward could only head wide from eight yards out.

Castagne was involved again as Bournemouth were reduced to 10 men 12 minutes later, with Christie given his marching orders following a VAR review after a rash challenge from behind on the full-back.

However, the hosts' numerical advantage only lasted until first-half stoppage time, when Andersen's two-footed lunge on Adrien Truffert was also punished by a straight red card after review.

Junior Kroupi was unfortunate to see his curling effort hit the crossbar six minutes into the second half, but Bournemouth opened the scoring soon after, with Rayan's 25-yard drive finding the net via a slight Calvin Bassey deflection.

Oscar Bobb fired over and Kevin's effort was tipped over by Djordje Petrovic as Fulham sought a response. The Cottagers went closest in the 94th minute when Josh King rattled the crossbar from a tight angle, but the visitors held out to tighten their grip on sixth place.

Data Debrief: Teenage sensations strike again

Bournemouth have completed their first Premier League double over Fulham, and have now won three consecutive meetings for the first time since October 2018.

The Cherries' defensive resilience was crucial, with Fulham producing 1.24 expected goals (xG) from 14 shots to Bournemouth's 0.73 from 10 attempts.

Neverthless, through Kroupi (in October) and Rayan, Bournemouth are the first team in Premier League history to have two different teenagers score in three consecutive games in the same season.

In fact, 17 of the Cherries' Premier League goals this season have come via teenagers, with only Liverpool netting more in a single campaign (23 in 1994-95, 18 in 1997-98 and 1998-99).