Just last week, Eddie Howe warned that, even after nine consecutive wins, his Newcastle side were not “quite set in stone”.
Andoni Iraola’s players relished the opportunity to prove their former manager right as Justin Kluivert’s fabulous hat-trick suggested Bournemouth were indeed a credible contender for European qualification.
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While this failure to secure a club record 10th consecutive victory confirmed Howe’s assertion that the internal issues which derailed Newcastle’s start to the season are not entirely resolved, Iraola’s defense has completely overpowered Alexander Isak, extinguishing the Swedish striker’s hopes of scoring for a ninth premiership. Back-to-back championship game.
Bournemouth were far too strong and fast for their hosts. Indeed, they were so aggressive on the ball, and intelligently incisive on the ball, that it was easy to forget that Iraola’s brilliant counter-attack had limped to Toon. Not that a casualty list that left the Spaniard with just 12 fit senior players stopped Kluivert from giving the visitors an early lead.
It’s almost 21 years since Sir Bobby Robson signed Kluivert Sr for Newcastle, but even a manager of Robson’s caliber has never presided over a nine-match winning run during his tenure at St James’ Park.
In doing precisely that, Howe had matched similar winning runs from Kevin Keegan and Rafa Benítez, but Bournemouth seemed on a mission to prevent him from outshining all comers and making a perfect 10.
Even before Kluivert scored, David Brooks’ left-footed cross from the right wing had caused consternation in the home defense, before Martin Dubravka did well to deny Dango Ouattara before Antoine Semenyo pounced on the rebound and misses a very good opportunity.
If Iraola’s players were dazzling under bright blue skies, Newcastle were initially as undernourished as the weak January sun but still managed to equalize from a set-piece.
With Dan Burn serving as a decoy, distracting Ilya Zabarnyi, Bruno Guimarães was left unmarked as Lewis Hall’s corner tipped over and the Brazilian beat Kepa Arrizabalaga with a header which the goalkeeper touched but failed to hit. could retain.
Undeterred, Bournemouth remained the superior team, deservedly regaining their lead shortly before half-time. It was once again Kluivert who scored. His ninth league goal of the season arrived when Ryan Christie’s dispossession of Guimarães allowed Ouattara to advance quickly before slipping a pass for Kluivert to strike, expertly, into the bottom corner of the net before Hall or Burn cannot intercept it.
Although Arrizabalaga then superbly stopped Sandro Tonali, Newcastle were constantly half a meter off the pace, often allowing their visitors to gain possession far too cheaply.
The resulting frustration saw things become more than just bad-tempered with an off-the-ball altercation involving Joelinton and Kluivert emblematic of the prevailing mood.
It was no surprise when Howe attempted to strengthen his rearguard by replacing a tired-looking Sven Botman with Fabian Schär at the break.
Bournemouth, however, remained ascendant. So much so that Ouattara thought he had scored his third goal only to have that ‘goal’ correctly disallowed due to the ball having slipped slightly out of play during a frenzied display also featuring Ouattara hitting a post and Brooks stretching Dubravka to the limit.
Howe introduced Joe Willock and Kieran Trippier in place of Jacob Murphy and Hall. They couldn’t stop Kluivert from completing his hat-trick thanks to a glorious stoppage time just outside the box before Milos Kerkez fired home the fourth as Newcastle’s hopes of Champions League qualification suffered a sobering breach.
A new visit to the repair shop awaits Howe players.