Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.
Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at St Mary’s.
Ryan Christie conjured a fine assist for Dango Ouattara’s 14th-minute opener and then quickly fired home a superb second before Marcus Tavernier sealed victory late on following a goal back from Kamaldeen Sulemana.
While his team climbed above Chelsea, on goal difference, and Newcastle to the cusp of the top four, Bournemouth boss Iraola is eager to manage expectations and not look too far ahead.
“I think we are far from there,” he said of reaching the Champions League.
“We need still a lot of points. A reality would be at the end of the season. Now, unfortunately for us, it’s not.
“We have to continue performing well. If we continue performing well we may have a chance when there are five, six games remaining and then we are fighting.
“Right now we are still in the process, there is still more than one third of the league to play. We are focusing in the next week and definitely not further than this.”
Midfielder Christie played a starring role in Bournemouth’s blistering start, curling into the bottom left corner from almost 25 yards after a delightful delivery allowed Ouattara to glance home.
Saints goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale produced a fine fingertip save to deny Antoine Semenyo at the end of a mazy run and then clawed Christie’s header off the line from the resultant corner as the Cherries sought to capitalise on their dominance.
Southampton forward Sulemana briefly created some jeopardy by halving the deficit 18 minutes from time, prior to substitute Tavernier thumping home to eventually put the result beyond doubt.
“I’m happy for the win and for the performance,” said Iraola.
“I don’t care if it’s because of the goal average we are fifth or sixth or seventh; right now we have 43 points, it’s a good amount for this moment of the season.
“But I’m more concerned about keeping this performance level as long as we can that will put us in a good position at the end.
“It’s a game (versus Southampton) that for sure supporters want to win and to have the moment at the end with them and everyone enjoying it I think is really positive.”
Bottom club Southampton slipped a step closer to relegation following their 20th defeat of a miserable campaign.
The hosts, who paid a heavy price for a dismal first-half display in which they failed to threaten, remain 10 points from safety, having now played a game more than 17th-placed Wolves.
Saints manager Ivan Juric said: “It was a really bad first half, it was not good enough to compete with them.
“It’s a situation that is really bad. Things didn’t go well before and things don’t go well now. Of course there are lots of problems and we try to fix it.
“We cannot say that they (the players) don’t have motivation. At 2-0, they are pushing, they want to score. For 30 minutes, they did a great second half until we conceded the third goal.
“They were like I want my team to be: aggressive, stealing the ball, attacking with lots of players, creating lots of chances. We have to try and play like this more times.”
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Let's start our Daily Laugh today. Arsenal, Liverpool then & Now Al $enal EPL Week 2 !! This is so accurate Los Blancos have truly secured themselves not one, but TWO future Legends! emmm 002 Please stay tuned on Daily Laugh. There will be more fun tomorrow!(Credit: originaltrollfootball, AZRorganization, zhibo8, Justtoonit)...
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