Jack Grealish hit a late winner for Everton at the Vitality Stadium to sentence Bournemouth to a fourth defeat in five games.

A match lacking in clear chances looked to be heading for a draw when the England winger's 20-yard strike took a big deflection off Bafode Diakite to beat Djordje Petrovic and earn the Toffees a second straight win on the road.

"We've been away at Old Trafford and now here at Bournemouth, so that is really positive," said Everton boss David Moyes, whose side moved up to ninth place, but are just one point off Brighton in fifth.

"We want to keep going. I'd really like to try to challenge the top boys and keep ourselves near Europe if I can.

"But we are always looking over our shoulder because the teams below are never that far away."

Entertainment was in short supply until Grealish, on loan from Manchester City, struck in the 78th minute as Everton bounced back from a miserable 4-1 home defeat by Newcastle with a third clean sheet in four matches.

Earlier, Cherries captain Antoine Semenyo was denied his seventh top-flight goal of the season when Jordan Pickford saved his powerful 23rd-minute attempt.

Everton came close when Alex Scott headed against his own bar when trying to defend a corner, while Thierno Barry was denied his first Toffees goal by Petrovic's second-half save.

But Grealish's goal saw Moyes' men claim a first win in nine league visits to Bournemouth, who dropped to 14th spot.

Since the Scottish boss' first away game back in charge of Everton in January, only Arsenal (30) have won more away Premier League points than Everton (27) and no side has won more away games in that time than the Toffees (8).

It is not that long ago people were talking up Bournemouth's chances of qualifying for Europe for the first time in their history.

A win over Nottingham Forest on 26 October left them second in the table, but Andoni Iraola's side have worryingly not won since.

They look a shadow of the team that defeated Wolves, Tottenham, Brighton and Fulham earlier in the season, and registered just five attempts against an Everton side that conceded four last time out.

That is their lowest total in a single match in the Premier League this season.

Iraola, who described the performance as Bournemouth's worst this season, named the youngest ever Cherries Premier League starting XI (23 years, 254 days) but, after blowing a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at Sunderland last Saturday, they produced a bitterly disappointing performance in front of their own fans.

Eli Junior Kroupi thought he had netted just before half-time, but his effort was ruled out for offside against Adli.

The games are coming thick and fast and the Cherries boss and his players have little time to work on their shortcomings before they host Chelsea on Saturday, followed by an away game at Manchester United on 15 December.

"I am concerned, especially with this game, because against Sunderland and West Ham even though we only took one point, we played well," said Iraola.

"It is concerning in the sense that now we have Chelsea and Manchester United. We are in a difficult moment."

This was a highly satisfying performance for Everton boss Moyes.

He had seen his side capitulate in front of their own fans last time out, but they responded with a gritty display that was capped off by a goal on the counter by Grealish.

Moyes has been calling for the winger to contribute more in terms of goals and assists, and he duly delivered to earn the Toffees a first top-flight win at Bournemouth at the ninth attempt.

Grealish now has two goals and four assists in 13 Premier League games for Everton and Moyes will hope the player can kick on.

"I don't think I played that well," said Grealish afterwards.

"And then Pickers [Jordan Pickford] came up to me and said, 'that was your worst game and you got the winner'.

"They [Everton fans] were singing my name before the goal, so they wanted more from me and I gave it to them."

While the 30-year-old found the net for the first time since 5 October, Barry's wait for a first Everton goal continues after another frustrating game.

The French forward, 23, will feel unfortunate after Petrovic's decent save, but the £27m summer signing from Villarreal was guilty of wasteful finishing as the game wore on.

Grealish, though, stepped up when needed as his first Premier League goal from outside the box since 2020 delivered a welcome third top-flight away win of the season.

Bournemouth are back at home on Saturday, 6 December, and their fans will demand an improved performance against Chelsea (15:00 GMT).

Everton are playing at the same time as they welcome Nottingham Forest to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.