Bournemouth picked up just their second win of the Premier League season with a 2-0 victory at home to Newcastle United on Saturday evening.
The Cherries were good value for their win after dominating the Magpies, who head into the international break with more injury woes.
Eddie Howe’s return to Bournemouth was not a joyful one and Newcastle head back up north without any points to show for their efforts.
How the game unfolded
Bournemouth went close to taking a shock lead with only 38 seconds on the clock. Marcus Tavernier’s cut-back found Ryan Christie free on the edge of the box, but his effort went straight down the throat of Nick Pope.
Within the next minute, Bournemouth had another sight of goal. Antoine Semenyo drifted infield from the right and let fly from a similar distance to Christie, this time forcing Pope into a low save.
Down the other end, Sean Longstaff came up with Newcastle’s first chance, bringing a stretching save out of Neto with a shot from around 18 yards.
Newcastle’s defensive frailties remained evident early on, however. Semenyo’s long ball over the top of Fabian Schar was met by Dominic Solanke, only to be denied at close range by a last-ditch challenge from Jamaal Lascelles.
The hosts continued to look dangerous, particularly in transition. Justin Kluivert was afforded space to run and then fire towards goal, only for Pope to deny him with a flying save.
Pope again came to Newcastle’s rescue when he got down low to punch away a bouncing half-volley from Christie following a corner.
Another chance came and went for Bournemouth when Solanke held off Schar and played in Semenyo with a clever flick, but his effort trickled wide of the post.
After the break, Newcastle nearly scrambled the ball over the line. Kieran Trippier’s teasing free-kick sailed over Lewis Cook and ricocheted off of Neto, and Joe Willock’s follow-up was blocked at close-range.
The visitors were made to pay for lacking a cutting edge when Solanke fired Bournemouth ahead on the hour mark. Willock’s tackle to take the ball away from Semenyo went in behind his own backline, where Solanke was waiting to thrash it in at the near post.
Just over 10 minutes later, Bournemouth had their second. Luis Sinisterra’s header from a corner rattled the post, but Solanke quickly contorted his body to convert the rebound with his heel.
Half of the Vitality Stadium thought the Cherries had added a third when Sinisterra’s piercing strike hit the side-netting. Seconds later, Lascelles blocked the Colombian’s shot when he managed to fine a yard of space from mere yards out.
Tavernier, Sinisterra and Dango Ouattara all went close to finding a third goal in stoppage time before referee Chris Kavanagh brought an end to proceedings and put Newcastle out of their misery.
GK: Neto (7); RB: Max Aarons (7), CB: Illya Zabarnyi (7), CB: Marcos Senesi (6), LB: Lloyd Kelly (7); CM: Ryan Christie (6), CM: Lewis Cook (8); RM: Antoine Semenyo (8), AM: Justin Kluivert (6), LM: Marcus Tavernier (6); CF: Dominic Solanke (9)
SUBS: Adam Smith (6), Luis Sinisterra (6), Dango Ouattara (N/A), Joe Rothwell (N/A)
Manager: Andoni Iraola (7)
GK: Nick Pope – 7/10 – Kept Newcastle within touching distance with some fine saves, though eventually the pressure told.
RB: Kieran Trippier – 4/10 – Unusually sloppy and provided little threat. Fortunate that Solanke didn’t pounce on a loose pass back to Pope at the start of the second half.
CB: Jamaal Lascelles – 6/10 – Newcastle’s most reliable and alert defender, sweeping up when his teammates were at fault.
CB: Fabian Schar – 4/10 – Bournemouth continually sought to get in down and over Schar’s side. Played on after going down with hamstring and knee issues in the first half.
LB: Lewis Hall – 4/10 – Struggled to contain Semenyo before being hooked at the break.
CM: Lewis Miley – 5/10 – Didn’t quite bring the same physicality as Bruno Guimaraes would have but was a smooth operator regardless, though was equally caught by Bournemouth’s swarm at times.
CM: Sean Longstaff – 5/10 – Another player the survived an injury scare but failed to have much of a meaningful impact. Worked hard but his touch couldn’t quite stick.
CM: Joe Willock – 5/10 – Popped up with minor flashes of brilliance but little anything sustained to help the Newcastle cause.
RW: Miguel Almiron – N/A – Withdrawn after half an hour through injury. Didn’t provide a lot prior to that.
CF: Joelinton – 5/10 – Began out wide and in deeper areas before swapping positions with Gordon. Still uncomfortable playing as a centre forward and Newcastle’s attack suffered for it.
LW: Anthony Gordon – 5/10 – Lively early on but faded out of the game. Couldn’t quite get in behind an aggressive and resilient Bournemouth defence.
Substitutes
SUB: Matt Ritchie (31′ for Almiron) – 5/10 – Didn’t have much joy back at his old stomping ground.
SUB: Tino Livramento (46′ for Hall) – 4/10 – Failed to improve on Hall’s peformance.
SUB: Ben Parkinson (66′ for Miley) – 5/10
SUB: Emil Krafth (90′ for Willock) – N/A
Subs not used: Martin Dubravka (GK), Mark Gillespie (GK), Paul Dummett, Alex Murphy, Amadou Diallo
Manager
Eddie Howe – 4/10 – Injuries have hit Newcastle hard and that’s a huge reason behind such a disappointing result and performance. But, you know, at least put up some sort of fight.
Player of the match – Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth)
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