Numbers rarely lie, and the damning statistic that followed Bournemouth off the Turf Moor pitch told a story Andoni Iraola will have been desperate to avoid telling again. Twenty-two shots. Not a single goal. Bournemouth's fifth goalless draw of the season — more than any other club in the division — isn't just an inconvenience anymore; it is emerging as the defining flaw in an otherwise impressively resilient campaign.

At the heart of this recurring nightmare is an absence that has quietly snowballed since January. Antoine Semenyo's departure stripped the Cherries of their most explosively direct attacking outlet — the kind of forward who drags defenders out of position without technical prompting alone. What Bournemouth possess now is a technically sophisticated but ultimately cautious attacking unit. Evanilson offers physicality, Alex Kroupi diligence, but neither consistently carries the element of individual unpredictability that Semenyo regularly manufactured from nothing.

It fell to Alex Scott to at least attempt to compensate. The 22-year-old was immense in isolation — 90 touches, a passing accuracy north of 90% and more duels won than any other player on the pitch. In the dying minutes, Scott's intelligent work created the moment of the match, threading through Adrien Truffert to present substitute Enes Unal with what should have been a simple finish. Unal poked wide. The groan around the ground said everything.

Bournemouth's 10-game unbeaten run means Iraola's project is very much intact, and they remain in genuine contention for European football. But the cold reality is this: the run has been built largely on defensive solidity rather than attacking conviction. Semenyo was the bridge between the two. Finding a replacement — or transforming what they already have — may be the most pressing question of the summer.