Newcastle bruise Bournemouth's survival hopes in four-goal romp
By the end it was bordering on cruel. This was a futile Bournemouth performance, one that screamed relegation and they have now lost 16 of their past 21 games.
Allan Saint-Maximin was influential as goals by Dwight Gayle, Sean Longstaff, Miguel Almirón and Valentino Lazaro chalked up Newcastle’s biggest win of the season. Victory should have been more emphatic, too, with Isaac Hayden missing a sitter after Lazaro smacked the crossbar.
Eddie Howe, hands on hips, stood forlorn on the touchline as his team, battered and bruised by hungry Newcastle, were put out of their misery just after Dan Gosling bundled in a stoppage-time strike, which, tellingly, was Bournemouth’s only shot on target.
Before the match the Bournemouth manager said it was too early to think about being mindful of goal difference in their fight for survival but when Lazaro capped off another slick attack to add Newcastle’s fourth, he must have feared it could take a beating.
“We have to find answers quickly, we have a tough run of fixtures to come but I have no doubts we can turn this around,” said Howe, whose side visit Manchester United on Saturday before welcoming Tottenham and Leicester. Defeat leaves them ensconced in the battle to avoid the drop and time is running out with six games to play.
As for Newcastle, in their orange strip, they were vibrant from start to finish. They toyed with the hosts, fizzing the ball around at speed, just like Bournemouth used to.
The home side went into their shells from the moment Gayle opened the scoring when Newcastle preyed on Jefferson
Lerma dallying on the edge of the area. Lerma’s heavy touch led to a collision with Longstaff and the superb Saint-Maximin seized possession before slipping in Gayle, who raced into a gaping defensive hole and finished clinically.
From that moment on, as Howe acknowledged, Bournemouth never recovered. “When you’re in our position looking for a lift, it’s a hammer blow the other way,” he said.
Bournemouth came undone in defeat at Wolves 10 days ago courtesy of Adama Traoré flicking on the afterburners and here it was Saint-Maximin’s quick feet that got the better of the full-back Adam Smith as Newcastle doubled their lead.
It was not just Smith who was startled by Saint-Maximin’s trickery; the winger also occupied Lerma and David Brooks before breezing beyond the trio and cutting the ball back from the byline for Longstaff to lash high into the roof of the net.
Bournemouth badly lacked a creative spark. “We believed the team was in a good place,” Howe said. “It’s a bit of a head-scratcher for us at the moment.”
It was the same story for Newcastle’s third approaching the hour mark, with Saint-Maximin again at the heart of things. He laid the ball centrally for Almirón, who kept a string of defenders at arm’s length before beautifully nestling the ball into the top corner with his right foot.
Just before that, Saint-Maximin tore through the Bournemouth spine, picking up the ball on the edge of his penalty area before brushing off halfhearted challenges and travelling to the edge of the Bournemouth D without too much fuss. “That’s 80 yards,” yelled an incensed Aaron Ramsdale in the Bournemouth goal. If only the rest of his side showed the same urgency, with too many of them guilty of going through the motions.
It was such a stroll that Steve Bruce had the luxury of being able to withdraw players with half an hour to play. Saint-Maximin, who was replaced by Lazaro, would surely have departed to a standing ovation had Newcastle supporters been there.
“If we can get into the top 10 that would be a great achievement after a lot of people wrote me and the players off,” Bruce said. “But even at my age that just makes me roll my sleeves up and show them. It was a bit disrespectful at times. It makes you work harder and spurs you on. I’m delighted to manage this great club.”