Shelvey misses sitter to leave Benitez in bother

FROM 10th to 15th in a matter of moments. Newcastle United were on the verge of finishing a Saturday in the top half of the table for once but threw it all away at the Vitality Stadium.

The visitors led by two goals when, with 11 minutes left, Jonjo Shelvey missed the simplest of tap-ins that would have made it 3-0 and game over.

Instead, he blasted it wide and Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle paid the price as Adam Smith and Dan Gosling scored in the 80th and 89th minutes to snatch a point for Bournemouth.

This was not the result they wanted from their 700-mile round trip and Benitez summarised: ‘We miss a chance, we concede a goal then we lost the control.

‘These types of situations, we have to manage better. We’re all disappointed, especially him (Shelvey). It is something that can happen.

‘It was a pity because all the hard work, so many minutes, the control we had.’

Dwight Gayle scored both of the goals for Benitez’s side — the second one in particular a gift by Bournemouth goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who had a game to forget.

As for Howe, the top flight’s youngest manager at the age of 40, being Bournemouth boss is taking its toll. They were out of sorts for the majority of this match and, to tell the truth, it was not pretty.

‘My heart this season is being tested to the max despite my age,’ Howe said. ‘I certainly feel it during matches. This was tough.

‘We weren’t good for 70 minutes but once again, I have to praise the attitude, the spirit to come back.’