BRUCE BREATHER
Relief for boss and Toon on way up
STEVE BRUCE never imagined the November break would arrive at a bad time. He confessed this week that merely avoiding the sack to this point would be a relief.
After the darkness of a 5-0 drubbing at Leicester in late September, the head coach had seen his dream job turn into a nightmare. Bruce was in survival mode and, as he admitted prior to t hi s game, protecting his employment had become his chief motivation.
And so it is that he will enjoy this fortnight and a league table that after yesterday has his team 11th, seven points clear of danger. After seven points from nine the last thing they need is a 16-day layoff.
This latest win was deserved given the spirited manner of the turnaround, their first come-frombehind triumph since March.
But it could, and perhaps should, have been very different, for Bournemouth were magnificent in the first half- hour, opening the scoring and threatening at least another couple.
‘That was hugely frustrating and disappointing,’ said Cherries manager Eddie Howe. ‘We started so well and created a number of chances. Then we made uncharacteristic errors and gave Newcastle encouragement.’
Bruce agreed. ‘It was very difficult the first 25 minutes or so,’ he said. ‘We were a bit fortunate but we got the equaliser at a good time and after that we were the team who deserved to win. I was delighted with the attitude and spirit.’
Bruce, though, could well be thinking about accommodating some of his defenders in attack after another victory inspired by his backline.
Seven of Newcastle’s last nine goals have been scored by defenders and it was DeAndre Yedlin and Ciaran Clark who netted here to reverse Harry Wilson’s opener.
While that is a point of celebration, it is also a concern given their front three of Joelinton, Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin still have just one goal between them this season.
‘If we’re going to be critical then we’ve had five or six one-on-ones in the last two games and not scored from any of them,’ said Bruce.
The form of the likes of Clark and Federico Fernandez is masking the inefficiency of their team-mates at the other end of the pitch.
Clark was not even gett i ng stripped early in the season but now is the first name on the teamsheet, not to mention the scoresheet. He and Fernandez were also on target in last week’s win at West Ham.
‘Ciaran Clark was probably questioning his place in the squad,’ said Bruce. ‘But he is a prime example of someone taking their chance — coming from nowhere, to see him scoring the winner when six weeks ago he was not even travelling.’
Bournemouth had started much the brighter and it was no surprise when led on 14 minutes, even if the nature of the goal caught Newcastle completely on the hop.
They had already seen Ryan Fraser somehow miss from two yards when he bundled the ball straight at Martin Dubravka. Fraser had also shaved the roof of the net with an ambitious drive from 25 yards and Callum Wilson headed over. It was from the resulting corner — the ball brushed off Clark — that the visitors claimed a deserved lead. Fraser rolled the ball low to King who immediately returned it and the corner taker swept first time to the penalty spot. And that was where Harry Wilson had appeared after peeling from his marker at the far post and the Liverpool loanee steered into the bottom corner. It was a ruthless routine.
Withi n minutes Diego Ri c o cracked the bar and Fraser then went around Dubravka, only for Yedlin to recover and block his effort on the goal line.
So it was against the run of play that Newcastle drew level on 42 minutes when Yedlin threw his frame at Saint-Maximin’s deflected cross to head in. Seven minutes after the interval they were in front when Clark nicked home after Fernandez helped on a Jetro Willems cross — again, three defenders at the heart of the goal.
Joelinton was denied by Aaron Ramsdale before Almiron fired into Saint-Maximin, who inadvertently deflected the ball over from six yards. And the hosts could have paid the price when Josh King headed inches wide in stoppage time.