It’s not quite lift off for Bournemouth under Marco Rose yet, despite the best efforts of Evanilson with the elevation behind their opening goal against Sturm Graz, but this night will live long in the memory for their supporters.

This was a historic night for Bournemouth even before a ball was kicked, with them hosting European football for the first time. Much has been made of their journey from a 17-point deduction in League Two almost 20 years ago to being in Europe now. And after starting their Europa League adventure with a win away at Real Sociedad, there was an understandably huge degree of anticipation at the Vitality Stadium, where a new attendance record was being set.

For those there to witness the occasion, the manner of Bournemouth’s 3-0 win will have mattered little – especially given the contrast in their cup form to how they’re doing in the Premier League at the moment.

Bournemouth had to put a serious shift in to get the better of Sturm Graz, who didn’t have much to offer but equally didn’t see their own goal troubled too much.

Rose’s side could have come into this game low on confidence after their 5-1 loss to Chelsea at the weekend, which extended their winless start to the Premier League season to six games. That’s quite a comedown for a team that went unbeaten in the league for the last 18 games of last season.

But this is a new project after Andoni Iraola’s departure and the early signs under Rose have been unconvincing. Indeed, it took a pretty wild moment for Bournemouth to take the lead on Thursday.

A cross from Adam Smith, a player who’s represented Bournemouth in each of the top three divisions, met the stooping head of Evanilson, who somehow managed to divert it into the top corner with enough power to evade the goalkeeper.

A landmark goal for The Cherries 🍒

Evanilson fires home an outstanding header to give the Cherries their first ever European goal at home 💪

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For a while, it looked likely to be the only goal of the game. It would have been a worthy match winner as well. But Bournemouth found a way to finish with a flourish.

Rayan struck their second goal within the final 15 minutes and Alvaro Rodriguez made it three in stoppage time. That doesn’t mean Bournemouth were in free flow – Rayan’s goal came after a goalkeeping error and Rodriguez’s was a penalty – but not a single soul at the Vitality will have minded.

This is the kind of night you just can’t take away from those who’ve been through a journey like this.

But in the bigger picture, can it be a springboard for their season? It’d be easier to give a convincing yes if they’d played Sturm Graz off the park, but that wasn’t quite the case.

The stats suggest it was, with Bournemouth bettering their guests in most departments. But they were slightly misleading. The general quality of play left something to be desired. It was the kind of game where they wore their opponents down rather than blitzed them away.

Rose’s substitutions in the second half certainly helped. Bournemouth have built for themselves a pretty handy squad with increasing strength in depth. Rayan, for example, was one of the players they brought on and he ended up on the scoresheet for the second Europa League game in a row.

Come the weekend, Bournemouth will have to shift their attention back to the Premier League – a competition they’re in the relegation zone of as things stand.

Then there’s a tasty clash with AC Milan for their next Europa League game on home soil next week. If tonight was a symbol of how far Bournemouth have come, then that will be to an even more significant degree.

Rose remains under pressure to turn the tide, but he just about delivered on their big night tonight.