Aston Villa was defeated 2-0 by newly promoted Bournemouth thanks to goals from Jefferson Lerma and Kieffer Moore.
With fewer than two minutes remaining, Scott Parker’s team took the lead when Lerma scored after Lloyd Kelly nodded down Marcus Tavernier’s corner.
With 10 minutes left in the game, Moore’s forceful headed attempt increased the Cherries’ lead.
The visitors’ Danny Ings and Jacob Ramsey had opportunities in the first half, but Villa failed to take advantage of their opportunities at the Vitality Stadium.
Cherries boss Parker applauded his side’s passion, desire and commitment after sealing an opening-day win.
He said: “Firstly, the result was a good result for us. That wasn’t key for me in terms of how I tried to go about with the team.
“The key thing was performance and us understanding what we need to bring to every game in this Premier League.
“My experiences tell me the fine margins of the league, they can hinge on critical moments.
“What was most important to me was us taking our chance and showing a real passion, desire and commitment, through whatever we may have faced.
“I thought we did that. I was very proud of the team in that sense.”
Speaking afterward, beaten Villa boss Steven Gerrard admitted his side could have no complaints.
He said: “A really frustrating result and a frustrating day.
“We got what we deserved over the course of the game. A lot of focus will be on two set-play moments but if you look across the board and across the game we haven’t shown enough quality.
“We didn’t look like creating today, which is on me and on us and it’s a big area that we need to improve upon.
“We gave ourselves a more difficult challenge in the opening minutes from a set play, but we’ve had more than enough time to get back into the game.
“We had long periods of possession, we had a lot of control, we got to the last areas of the pitch but we were lacking from a quality point of view — certainly in the final third.”
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