Bournemouth 1-1 Newcastle - Match Report: Magpies struggle for a point

In Eddie Howe’s return to Bournemouth for the first time since leaving the club, the lovely man wasn’t sure how he’d feel upon it. It’s fair to say it was an emotional evening for the Newcastle manager who spent twenty-one years at Bournemouth as a player and manager.

At the end of the day, it was Miguel Almiron who found the back of the net for the first time in six Premier League games as Newcastle battled back for a 1-1 draw on the south coast.

A knock in training denied Callum Wilson the opportunity to face his old team. It meant Alexander Isak, Newcastle’s record £60M signing, made only his sixth appearance in the league following an injury-hit first campaign.

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It wasn’t to be a winning return for Howe though, as Bournemouth began brightly and Newcastle looked yards off the pace.

Newcastle struggled to find any rhythm in the first half and deservedly fell behind when Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi reacted quickest from a corner to tap in from close range.

Nick Pope was the first goalkeeper called into action when Jaidon Anthony’s cross was expertly flicked on by Dominic Solanke, but Pope scrambled across to parry wide. It was an encouraging moment for a Bournemouth side that had only scored one league goal since the league restarted after the World Cup.

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Goals against had been a lot more frequent for Gary O’Neil’s men than those they’ve scored, but after withstanding a succession of corners, they made the breakthrough with half an hour played.

Hamed Traore’s corner was flicked on by fellow January recruit Dango Ouattara and summer arrival Senesi was on hand to poke home at the back post for his first goal for Bournemouth.

The Cherries didn’t hold their lead for long as Almiron struck on the stroke of half-time after impressive work from Allan Saint-Maximin on the left-hand side. The Frenchman somehow kept the ball in play after sliding towards the ball and combined well with Anthony Gordon before threading a ball through to Sean Longstaff.

Bournemouth’s keeper Neto made a great save but could only parry the ball into Almiron’s path who made no mistake with the finish.

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Gordon was on the field having replaced Joe Willock, who looked to have injured his hamstring. Unfortunately for the Newcastle midfielder that will likely mean a spell on the sidelines and missing the Carabao Cup final in two weeks' time.

Almiron and Saint-Maximin would later depart with injuries of their own, although they’re thought to not be as serious as Willock’s.

Neto made a rare error when he fumbled Saint-Maximin’s shot and despite saving Longstaff’s follow-up effort, Bournemouth were thankful £40M-man Gordon fired wide from close-range under pressure from Jack Stephens.

The visitors would have Kieran Trippier to thank for registering a point and stretching the unbeaten run to 17 matches. The English right-back produced a goal-line clearance in the dying stages of the game with NUFC millimeters away from suffering their first league defeat since August.

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The Magpies may regret not strengthening the squad more through the January transfer window, though.

With the center midfield position already a priority before the window opened, coupled with Jonjo Shelvey’s move to Nottingham Forest and Bruno Guimaraes’ ongoing suspension, and now an injury to Willock—Newcastle may run out of steam and/or warm bodies in that area of the pitch.

Newcastle face Liverpool at St James’ Park next, hoping to get back to winning ways before their trip to Wembley.