A SECOND-HALF double from Oumar Niasse meant Cherries suffered a dramatic 2-1 defeat against Everton at Goodison Park.

The Senegalese striker netted twice in the final 13 minutes to condemn Cherries to their fifth league loss in six encounters this season.

Joshua King’s 49th minute goal looked to have set Eddie Howe’s men on their way to a memorable victory over the Blues before Niasse came off the bench to give the Merseyside club an important home victory.

Cherries went into the contest having made three changes from the side which beat Brighton 2-1 previously in the Premier League.

Having come through the midweek Carabao Cup tie against the Seagulls unscathed, winger Junior Stanislas made his first league appearance of the campaign since returning from a groin injury.

Midfielder Dan Gosling returned and there was also a start for Jordon Ibe, who impressed during his previous two performances against Albion in both league and cup.

Harry Arter was out of the match day squad all together for Cherries through injury, while Ryan Fraser and Marc Pugh dropped to the bench against the Toffees.

Hosts Everton brought in Mason Holgate at centre-half in place of the injured Michael Keane, skipper Phil Jagielka was also an absentee.

Despite victory in the cup over Sunderland last time out, Ronald Koeman’s side had lost three games without scoring in the league ahead of their battle with Cherries.

Those defeats came against Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea.

Everton came closest to opening the scoring on seven minutes.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed just wide after skipper for the afternoon Leighton Baines had advanced from left-back to cross.

Cuco Martina then got forward from the opposite flank for the Blues and, with plenty of time to deliver, his ball in was well held by Asmir Begovic in the away goal.

Midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin was booked for a late challenge on Andrew Surman before Cherries recorded their first shot on goal.

Jermain Defoe worked the ball back to Stanislas, whose low effort was gathered by keeper Jordan Pickford at his near post.

Appeals for a penalty to the home side were then waved away by referee Martin Atkinson.

After Calvert-Lewin’s initial strike was blocked, Gylfi Sigurdsson went down under the challenge of Gosling with nothing given by the match official.

There were soon Everton appeals again in Cherries’ box in a flashpoint on 35 minutes.

Wayne Rooney was left with a nasty cut above his left eye after colliding with visiting skipper Simon Francis.

As the pair jumped for a header following Martina’s cross, the former England captain claimed he had been elbowed by the Cherries defender but referee Atkinson did not agree.

With Francis left without a caution, Rooney was forced off to receive further treatment as Cherries looked to finish the first half strongly.

Defoe burst down the right channel and stood the ball up for Stanislas at the back post but full-back Martina was there to head behind.

Just three minutes after the break, the Dorset club took the lead.

Charlie Daniels found space on the left to slide the ball into King, who drove inside and fired into the corner of the net through the legs of Ashley Williams, after avoiding the challenge of Holgate.

And soon after, the visitors had a golden opportunity to make it 2-0.

After Everton gave the ball away in midfield, King released Defoe who was denied by Pickford after running in one-on-one.

Rooney’s frustrating afternoon then came to an end on 55 minutes.

He gave the referee’s assistant a piece of his mind after being replaced by Niasse.

The home fans continued to be frustrated as Cherries battled to keep their advantage intact.

A corner played in by the hosts looked to have been flicked goalwards by Holgate, only for Andrew Surman to stab the ball off the line.

But the pressure eventually told as the Toffees got their leveller on 77 minutes.

Substitute Tom Davies played the ball into Niasse, who managed to find space to slot the ball past Begovic and level the game up.

And Niasse was on hand to turn the game on its head and net the winner nine minutes from time.

After Davies’s shot looped off Steve Cook towards the back post, the frontman got the vital touch to send the home fans into raptures at 2-1 and leave Cherries with nothing to show for their efforts.

Cherries: Begovic; A Smith, Francis, Ake (Mousset, 83), Daniels; Ibe, Gosling, Surman, Stanislas; King (S Cook, 79); Defoe (Afobe, 75).

Unused subs: L Cook, Pugh, Fraser, Ramsdale (g/k)

Booked: Stanislas

Everton: Pickford; Baines, Williams, Holgate, Martina (Kenny, 76); Schneiderlin, Gueye, Klaassen (Davies, 55); Sigurdsson, Rooney (Niasse, 55), Calvert-Lewin

Unused subs: Sandro, Vlasic, Lookman, Stekelenburg (g/k)

Booked: Schneiderlin, Davies, Niasse

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Attendance: 38,133