Bournemouth made a huge leap towards a return to the Premier League by comfortably beating promotion rivals Huddersfield.
Jaidon Anthony, Jefferson Lerma and Dominic Solanke were on the mark as the ruthless visitors dented the Terriers’ play-off hopes with a 3-0 win at The John Smith’s Stadium.
The Cherries completely dominated their fellow promotion hopefuls in West Yorkshire to open a healthy six-point gap to the automatic promotion spots.
Anthony opened the scoring and Lerma capitalised on a mistake to net a second on a difficult day for the hosts.
The prolific Solanke then added an exquisite third shortly after half time to take Bournemouth out of sight.
Solanke broke clear inside two minutes after the hosts were caught out at the back but had a tame effort parried away by goalkeeper Lee Nicholls.
Solanke threatened again shortly after, striking the bar with a free header from close range after Ryan Christie’s free-kick found the frontman free in the box.
The 24-year-old then turned provider for a deserved Cherries opener in the 19th minute.
Christie unlocked the home defence with an inch-perfect pass for Solanke, who squared for Anthony to tap in and finish a delightful Cherries move.
Huddersfield’s 17-game unbeaten Championship run ended at Millwall in midweek and Carlos Corberan’s men were desperate for an immediate response after going behind.
The hosts started to capitalise on their intense pressing as Danny Ward forced a simple save from Mark Travers.
But a positive response was short-lived as Scott Parker’s side doubled their advantage.
Nicholls raced out to deny the dangerous Solanke, but Tom Lees skewed an attempted clearance and Lerma pounced. The Colombian international cleverly hooked beyond the scrambling Nicholls to find the bottom corner just after the half-hour mark.
Huddersfield simply had no answer for the incisiveness and quality of Parker’s side in the final third.
Former Terriers man Philip Billing received a frosty reception from home supporters, but looked bright and had a shot saved before the break.
Bournemouth started the second half where they left off, breezing through the hosts’ defence with ease.
Solanke struck his 23rd goal of the season just two minutes after the break, gloriously flicking past the helpless Nicholls to open up a three-goal cushion, deflating the home side.
Corberan’s side worked hard to make inroads against the visitors, but Parker’s men, who boast the league’s best defensive record, held firm.
The game began to loss urgency a little as midfield duo Lerma and Lewis Cook took control against the tiring Terriers.
That was until Lerma’s brilliant cross-field pass found Anthony, who curled just wide as the visitors looked to inflict further pain on their promotion rivals.
Huddersfield striker Ward went close late on but there was to be no consolation goal for the home side.
