Bournemouth 1-1 Newcastle: Half asleep Mags miss another big opportunity

A missed opportunity for Newcastle United and our fifth draw in our last six Premier League games as we were left to settle for a frustrating point on the south coast.

Results elsewhere couldn't have gone much better prior to kick-off. After Man Utd were held by Leeds in midweek, Chelsea drew with West Ham in the early kick off, then Spurs were thrashed 4-1 at Leicester and Brighton held to a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.

This felt like a huge chance to cement our place in the top four and move back up to third, but we looked half asleep throughout, low on energy and lacking in ideas without Bruno Guimaraes.

There's no need to panic, yet it did highlight how much we miss our all-action Brazilian, with three injuries on the night and the absence of Callum Wilson (hamstring niggle) also exposing our lack of squad depth. A tough watch, but the positives are we're 17 unbeaten and are two points clear of 5th (Spurs) with a game in hand.

After dominating possession without ever threatening in the opening stages, it was Bournemouth who had the first shot on target as Dominic Solanke's glancing header forced Nick Pope into a smart save.

Fabian Schar headed wide from a corner and Alexander Isak failed to get a shot away after bursting into the box before the hosts took the lead with another awful goal to concede. Just like Lucas Paqueta's equaliser last week, we failed to deal with the first or second ball into the box from a corner, seeing Marcos Senesi tap in at the back post after Trippier, Burn and Isak failed to track runners.

It then got worse moments later, as a strapped up Joe Willock was unable to continue, seeing Anthony Gordon come on. Our £40m man dropped into a number 10 role and that meant a change of formation, switching from 4-3-3 to more of a 4-2-3-1.

We looked better for the change - although it was another blow to a midfield already missing Bruno - however we continued to look so sloppy in possession, with cheap giveaways constantly gifting possession back to a lively Bournemouth side who looked bang up for it.

Then, just as we looked set to going into the break a goal down, a brilliant burst from Allan Saint-Maximin set up Sean Longstaff. The local lad's shot was well saved but Miggy Almiron arrived to smash home the rebound. His 10th goal of the season and a much needed goal before the break.

Even with that leveller, I imagine the players would've seen Eddie Howe's angry side at half time, as we were sloppy, slow and complacent all over the pitch; everything we've been urged not to be as we search for a top four finish and first trophy in decades.

In reality, we weren't much better for the majority of the second half. There were less easy giveaways, but things weren't quite clicking in attack and our midfield continued to lack that creativity and class without Bruno.

Saint-Maximin caused problems when he cut in from the right - albeit with very mixed final product - and Gordon added pace to our play in flashes. However, we weren't really getting Isak into the game enough and could've gone 2-1 down had Marcus Tavernier not scuffed a big opening straight at Pope.

Still, with 15 minutes remaining the game was there for us to win. It was a worrying performance ahead of crucial games in league and cup against Liverpool, Man Utd and Man City, yet it would be one of the most precious wins of the season if we find a winner.

Jacob Murphy replaced Almiron - who went off holding his arm after being accidentally stamped on - and Elliot Anderson then came off for Saint-Maximin after the Frenchman fell awkwardly on his knee. Considering there was news of a hamstring niggle for Callum Wilson before the game, it was a real concern to see three Mags go off with knocks just a fortnight before the final.

There was a late call for a penalty as Anderson went down, yet it was Bournemouth who came within inches of winning it at the death, only for Trippier to clear an effort off the line after more abysmal defending from Burn saw the big man gift the ball to the hosts after Botman went down.

A frustrating performance and another missed opportunity to make the most of results elsewhere as we made it five draws in our last six.

(4-3-3): Pope – Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn – Willock, Longstaff, Joelinton – Almiron, Isak, Saint-Maximin.

SUBS: Dubravka, Dummett, Gordon, Ritchie, Lewis, Fraser, Murphy, Anderson, Miley.