Newcastle missed their chance to move into third place as they produced one of the close football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. Newcastle struggled to establish any momentum in the first half and deservedly fell behind when Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi reacted quickest from a corner to knock in from close range. Newcastle knew three points on the south coast would put them above Manchester United on goal differential (30). The first 45 minutes saw Bournemouth continue to dominate, but the visitors responded on the stroke of halftime when Miguel Almiron calmly scored his 10th Premier League goal of the year following Sean Longstaff’s forceful drive that Neto had saved (45+2).
After Anthony Gordon came close to giving Newcastle the lead in the second half, Dominic Solanke thought he had scored the game-winning goal for Bournemouth as stoppage time approached, but Kieran Trippier superbly cleared the ball off the line, resulting in a tie. With a game left to play, the result moves Newcastle up to fourth position and extends their unbeaten record in the top division to 17 games. However, injuries to Almiron, Joe Willock, and Allan Saint-Maximin will cause Howe serious concern with just two weeks until the Carabao Cup final. Despite playing one more game, Bournemouth is still in 19th place, one point behind Leeds in 17th.
Howe visited Bournemouth for the first time since leaving the squad in 2020, but Callum Wilson was unable to take on his former team because of an injury sustained in training. Alexander Isak, Newcastle’s record £60 million acquisition, could only manage his sixth league outing during an injury-plagued debut season. When returning Solanke expertly flicked on a cross from Jaidon Anthony, Nick Pope was the first goalie called into action, but the away keeper scrambled over to parry wide. It was a positive development for Bournemouth, which had only managed one league goal since the start of the season in December.
For Gary O’Neil’s team, goals against had been much more common, but after surviving a string of corners, they finally scored after 30 minutes. Dango Ouattara, a fellow January hire, flicked on a corner from Hamed Traore, and July hires Senesi was there to poke home at the back post for his first goal for Bournemouth. With a trip to Wembley less than two weeks away, Willock’s forced departure from the game and Gordon’s arrival resulted in a change in formation to a 4-2-3-1.
With two minutes left in the first half, Isak’s feeble effort was delivered straight down Neto’s throat, giving the visitors their first shot on goal. However, the Magpies’ subsequent excursion into the area led to the equalizer. Longstaff was on the attack when Saint-Maximin threaded a pass into him. Neto denied Longstaff from 20 yards out, but Almiron was there to slot home with his left foot to tie the score at halftime. Senesi, the goal scorer, had to be substituted early in the second half, forcing Bournemouth into a change. Just beyond the hour mark, the hosts made a second tactical substitution, bringing on Marcus Tavernier to try to slow Newcastle’s escalating momentum.
A series of interruptions helped lessen the impact of the game just as Howe’s squad was starting to gain momentum, but the Cherries were still fortunate not to trail with 20 minutes remaining. Despite stopping Longstaff’s follow-up attempt, Neto made a rare blunder when he mishandled Saint-shot, Maximin’s, and Bournemouth was grateful for the £40 million player. Under pressure from Jack Stephens, Gordon shot a close-range miss. Howe did eventually turn to his bench with Jacob Murphy ready before Almiron, who had just landed awkwardly on his wrist, became the latest player to suffer an injury.
“It was a challenging game. a fierce rivalry between two excellent teams. Aside from the goal and a few other tense moments for us, I think we handled Bournemouth’s high level of intensity and agility fairly well,” Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said. “We played with the ball a lot. Although we weren’t given as many clear-cut opportunities as we would have liked in the last third and there were many halftime opportunities when we could have performed better, I believe the outcome was just.”
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