Newcastle 1-1 Bournemouth: Flat Mags miss Saint-Maximin badly in SJP draw

A flat and frustrating day at St James' Park as a below par Newcastle United drew 1-1 with Bournemouth.

Alexander Isak scored his second goal in a black and white shirt from the spot, equalising with 25 minutes to play after Philip Billing's near post finish gave the visitors a surprise lead.

Ironically, the help of VAR - which robbed us of a clear goal two weeks ago - may have actually won us a point today, as we never really looked like scoring from open play.

Eddie Howe made two changes from the side that drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace two weeks ago, seeing Bruno Guimaraes and Dan Burn come in for Sean Longstaff and Sven Botman.

It was a really underwhelming first half. We started brightly in the first few minutes, but we just never got going after that. Our passing was off, there were too many loose touches and we looked strangely laboured in our work on and off the ball, with our attack seeming disjointed and in need of that sprinkle of quality to feed an isolated Isak who was struggling to get a kick.

We hit the woodwork twice before the break, once through a Kieran Trippier free kick and again via a back post effort from Joelinton, with Ryan Fraser also going close when his curling effort was tipped around the post brilliantly by Neto.

Possession wasn't a problem - we were dominating on that front - but we lacked conviction in our approach play in a first half that felt disjoined, low on quality and lacking in the sort of intensity we’ve come to expect from this Eddie Howe side, especially at St James’ Park.

If anything, things got worse in the second 45. We looked half asleep defensively on the rare occasion Bournemouth ran at us, conceded a cheap goal from nowhere and never really got going after that.

The penalty - won by Trippier after his cross hit Jefferson Lerma's hand - was finished emphatically by Isak, but we offered a worrying lack of service to our £60m man. Too much of our play was in front of Bournemouth, our wingers looked incapable of beating a man - highlighting how much we miss Allan Saint-Maximin - and our midfield three all looked below their best.

Considering how deep Bournemouth sat for the final 20 minutes, I was surprise to we didn't bring on Chris Wood sooner. It's not an exciting sub to make, however he could've made use of the number of wasted crosses that went into the box prior to him coming on for the final few minutes of the match.

Leaving out Sven Botman was also an odd one, as the Dutchman's ability to create from deep and break the lines would've been useful in a game full of predictable passing. Burn did OK - although didn't cover himself in glory for the goal - but Schar was way below his best, with too many wayward passes and lapses in concentration.

Joelinton struggled to get the ball under control, Willock didn't get into the box often enough and Bruno's ability to impact the game in the final third was limited by him playing in that deeper role. Almiron was too predictable. When opposition teams sit deep, his lack of quality and overreliance on his left foot really does stand out.

It was hard to put your finger on what went wrong today, but it's clear how much we miss Saint-Maximin - the only winger on our books who looks capable of dribbling past his man and making something happen out of nowhere.

Howe hit the nail on the head after the game. “That’s below the levels we set ourselves. For the first time this season those levels dipped. We were off with every aspect of our game. Big sense of frustration.”

A frustrating day and slightly mystifying display, even if it did expose how much we miss Saint-Maximin and how much we struggle to break down sides who sit deep and play on the counter.

Next up, a trip to Fulham two weeks today following the international break.