Iraola: Bournemouth Can Take Confidence from Opening Win

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola believes his side can take plenty of confidence from their first victory of the season, even if they weren’t at their fluent best in their 1-0 win over Wolves.

Marcus Tavernier’s early strike proved decisive, and while Iraola admitted it wasn’t a flawless performance, he was pleased with the result and felt the three points were justified.

Reflecting on the match, Iraola said he was “very happy.”

"I think it was, I wouldn't say a must win for us because it's the first game of the season at home, but it was important for us to win the first game because now also we have difficult games, so it gives us some confidence,” he said.

Bournemouth started on the front foot, pressing high and looking sharp in the early stages. Both sides had early efforts sail over the bar, but it was the home side who struck first with a goal typical of Iraola’s aggressive, high-energy style.

The breakthrough came after Tyler Adams dispossessed Jean-Ricner Bellegarde near the Wolves penalty area. The ball fell to Antoine Semenyo, who found Tavernier in space just outside the box. His shot took a deflection and looped in off the underside of the bar.

Iraola's assessment on our first win of the new season 👏

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Asked about the goal, Iraola responded: “I don't care who scores, but it's good that he had one goal there. I think it's important.

"I think we started really strong the game.

"First 30 minutes, I loved how we started with intensity, recovering the balls very high, attacking well the spaces, and we scored one.

"We had especially Antoine has had a big, big chance, hit the crossbar, but I think we were doing what we wanted."

After leaking four goals at Anfield in their previous outing, Bournemouth looked much more composed at the back, limiting Wolves to few genuine opportunities.

Iraola praised his team’s defensive improvement, saying: “I think Petro [Djordje Petrovic] has had I think only one save, but I think on the distribution he has been very good today, he’s improved a lot.

"And also defensively I think we've even finished better than we started. Even today's game, to finish it with a 1-0 is good for us.

"We were in a really uncomfortable situation at the end because we were not conceding chances, but it was still 1-0.

"So every long free kick, every long throw in could mean some danger and probably we should have killed the game.

"But we haven't suffered even with the 1-0, I don't remember any big chances from Wolves."

"Also the clean sheet and game wise, I like more the first half than the second half. But even without playing well the second half, I think we haven't conceded basically any chance the second half. So let's take the positives."