Forget the icing on the cake, the Cherries are on top, well joint-top, of the Europa League after their come-from-behind 3-1 win at Sparta Prague.

After winning just one of their opening eight matches in all competitions, Bournemouth have now won seven on the bounce thanks to second-half goals from Tyler Adams, Evanilson and Rayan. All three came on as second-half substitutes to underline the quality that Marco Rose has at his disposal.

'You can't get too comfortable. You have to continue to hold that standard,' reflected Adams post-match. 'That winning mentality becomes continuous, especially when you're playing every three days.'

Rose, who made eight changes to his XI, will be delighted with his side's fight but will also thank Sparta centre-back Tobias Guddal who inexplicably got himself in the first half for two avoidable yellow cards.

Prior to Guddal's red card, Sparta were in the ascendancy and should have taken the lead when striker Jonatan Braut Brunes, Erling Haaland's cousin, inexplicably put wide a tap-in in the opening two minutes.

That was the biggest chance in the match until Bournemouth were awarded a penalty midway through the first half. Former Liverpool defender Ki-Jana Hoever, who is on loan from Wolves, was booked for a handball in the box. Lewis Cook's stutter run-up fooled Jakub Surovcik but saw his low effort hit the inside of the left-hand post before rolling out of play.

If Cook was unlucky, there was no element of luck to Sparta breaking the deadlock. Counter-attacking from a Cherries' corner, Surovcik threw the ball out to Ebrima Singhateh inside his own half. The impressive winger shrugged off Cook before beginning his brilliant run, which included slaloming in between Bournemouth players, and scoring. It was a goal befitting of the Champions League, let alone the Europa League.

Sparta's joy was short-lived as Guddal, who had already been booked for a foul on Ben Gannon-Doak, then inexplicably brought down Alvaro Rodriguez.

Rose turned to his bench at half-time and all of his changes worked as they pressed Sparta into mistakes. Adams was the beneficiary for their first goal as he scored with a low right-footed shot from outside the box 12 minutes after coming on.

With 10 minutes remaining Evanilson put the visitors ahead with a sublime curled effort into the far corner with no backlift.

'He's on fire right now, but you see him do it every day in training,' Adams purred about his team-mate. For him to do it in a game is no surprise. He has so much quality.

'Whenever he gets in and around the box, we're confident he's going to find the back of the net.'

Evanilson then turned provider, via a neat one-two, to see Rayan score from distance.

The result means it's four out of four in the Europa League for the European debutants. With Celta Vigo away next after the international break, don't be surprised if it's five out of five.

Crystal Palace 1-1 Hoffenheim 

By Will Pickworth at Selhurst Park

As the fourth official signalled three minutes of added time, Pierre Sage may have been cursing his luck on the Selhurst Park touchline.

Although he has been hampered by the absences of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Ismaila Sarr and Dean Henderson at points this season, plus a transfer strategy that has left him shorn of experience and quality in key areas, the Frenchman was approaching a record of eight defeats in 13 league and European games.

Two seasons ago, Crystal Palace's hierarchy kept faith with Oliver Glasner when his side won one of their first 13 matches - a record that preceded the greatest 18 months in the club's history - but Sage was running out of time to prove he deserved a similar demonstration of trust.

Enter Daichi Kamada, Palace's best player here, as he finished calmly through the legs of Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann to rescue a valuable point for his side.

But this was a let-off for Sage on a night that had felt like it could precede the final days of his tenure, and he must now summon an improved display against Liverpool this weekend.

'Conceding early in the game was difficult because we had to push to come back,' Sage said post-match. 'But we scored at the end, and the players deserved it because they didn't give up.'

There was nothing to sum up Palace's predicament quite like Alexander Prass' early opener. Having started well - with Kamada having a goal ruled out for offside - Quinten Timber saw a penalty appeal waved away before the out-of-form Adam Wharton was dispossessed. The German side broke forward at electric speed and Prass' effort squirmed through Henderson.

It was an all too familiar story as Palace's defence - weakened by Sage's decision to leave Axel Disasi out of his squad in what he later labelled 'an internal decision' - again looked ill-equipped for the challenge in hand.

'Offensively we did better than our two previous games, but we have to continue to improve defensively because we gave too much space to them,' Sage added. 'When we defend too much, we have no chance to exist in the game, and when we try to attack a little bit, we are quickly open. You don't exist in the game when you don't attack. For this team the best way to defend is to keep the ball with efficiency.'

The hosts were careless on the ball though, doing little to improve the subdued atmosphere at Selhurst Park, and although Yeremy Pino and Kamada spurned good chances, Hoffenheim appeared to have closed out the game.

Palace's frustration was demonstrated by four yellow cards in seven minutes, before Wharton received a second shortly after to compound their misery.

The home faithful threatened to turn restless and it looked like the night would end in disappointment, until Kamada's strike gave Sage a lifeline.