Newcastle 1-4 Bournemouth: A brutal end to a brilliant run

A brutal end to our run of nine straight wins as Newcastle got exactly what they deserved against a Bournemouth side who totally outplayed us.

There were far too many shocking giveaways - two of their goals came from losing the ball in our own half - we played into their hands and our big guns (Tonali aside) didn’t turn up. Collectively we weren't at it, mixed in with far too many awful individual displays.

Bournemouth were superb and deserve real praise, but it was alarming to see a Newcastle side who should’ve been full of confidence and zip leave gaping holes all over the pitch, consistently gift the ball back to Bournemouth and create so little.

The result means Eddie Howe has still not beaten his former club and won’t become the first Toon boss to win 10 in a row, with this result giving Chelsea and Man City the chance to leapfrog us in the league in the coming days. Bournemouth’s win also means they are up to 37 and just a point behind us now.

Howe named an unchanged side from Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Wolves, although  it was good to see Schar back on the bench after being ill earlier this week.

The first half was easily our worst 45 minutes of football for well over a month, as we played into Bournemouth’s hands and gave away the ball in bad areas far too many times.

Kluivert’s opener was coming after a few nervy moments at the neck. Hall was done by Brooks and bailed out by Tonali and Semenyo fired over after a bad giveaway by Burn and Dubravka save.

They’d dominated for the opening 10 minutes and Semenyo was giving Tino a torrid time down Bournemouth’s left, but we found a way back into it as Bruno headed in Hall’s corner on 25 minutes.

That lifted the crowd and it felt like the momentum was suddenly back with us, only for Bruno to undo so much of his good work with an awful giveaway at the other end. It came just before halftime and was Kluivert’s second, giving the Cherries a 2-1 lead at the break.

Howe opted to change it at the break and brought Schar on, although the theme of awful giveaways continued as his ball across the box fell straight to Brooks.

VAR saved us from going 3-1 down on the hour mark as the ball went out before Tonali’s half-clearance and two more changes followed five minutes later, as Trippier and Willock replaced Hall and Murphy, who had picked up a knock.

Those changes did little to spark a comeback - Willock offered nothing and Trippier joined Tino in being bullied by Semenyo - before the latest giveaway helped Bournemouth make it three in stoppage time. It was Kluivert again, who smashed home superbly for his hat-trick, with Gordon guilty of giving the ball away this time.

Our no.10 had his only shot on goal cleared off the line in seven minutes of added time but the visitors broke at the other end, released Kerkez down their left and made it 4-1 as he smashed past Dubravka.

Howe’s post-match comments were fair: "We didn't have total control in any phase. They were better than us & never allowed us to find our rhythm. That is not the level we have played at. We were devoid of energy. I don't think any of our game survived. We were off it in every area"

The bubble has been burst today but we have a big chance to get back to winning ways next weekend as we travel to bottom of the table Southampton.

Newcastle XI: Dubravka; Livramento, Botman, Burn, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon.

Subs: Vlachodimos, Trippier, Schar, Osula, Almiron, Kelly, Willock, Longstaff, Miley.