A goal from Ayoze Perez was enough to seal the win for Newcastle United, who for the most part played second fiddle to a home-crowd-inspired AFC Bournemouth.
Bournemouth had a flurry of chances in the first half but were unable to convert, before Perez popped up on the edge of the box and was able to ‘toe-poke’ Newcastle into the lead in the 27th minute.
The Cherries managed 20 shots over the course of the 90 minutes, while Newcastle could only manage a pair of attempts. Because of that, Tyneside will be singing the graces of goalkeeper Rob Elliot, after he made a number of critical saves to keep Bournemouth at bay.
For Eddie Howe and his men; they’ll be wondering just what it will take to put points on the board, after a stellar performance saw his side slump to their 5th straight loss of the campaign.
The win is Newcastle’s first Premier League away win of the season and means that they’ve emerged from the relegation zone, with Bournemouth to reluctantly take their place.
AFC Bournemouth
Adam Federici- 4: Not much work to do on the day, Cherries fans might have hoped he’d done better with Ayoze Perez’s low driven shot.
Adam Smith- 6: Present in both attack and defense, Smith was everything that Eddie Howe asks for in the wing-back.
Simon Francis- 6: Filling in at center-back; Francis had a solid enough outing, always keeping himself between the attackers and the goal.
Sylvain Distin- 5: Had a reasonable game, covered well at the back. Covered a little too well for the Newcastle goal, opening up space for Ayoze to enter.
Charlie Daniels- 5: Playing more as a left midfielder with added defensive duties, Daniels was a big part of the constant Bournemouth onslaught- but should have been better positioned on the Ayoze goal.
Andrew Surman- 7: Passed the ball well and was part of a 3-man-midfield, that dominated possession, with 68% share of time on the ball .
Matt Ritchie- 7: Once again Bournemouth’s most dangerous man- he almost snatched one back for the home team, but had his powerfully struck header saved by Elliot.
Harry Arter- 6: A poor game by no measure, but you just wonder whether last week’s performance left the returning Arter overconfident- losing out in a couple of long-winded dribbles.
Dan Gosling- 7: The Cherries primary string-puller in the middle, Gosling looked to have a hand in a lot of Bournemouth’s most promising play.
Junior Stanislas- 7: Provided another dimension to the Bournemouth attack that has been absent since the loss of Max Gradel. Stanislas’s to-the-point dribbling often unsettled the Newcastle defence.
Joshua King- 4: Despite playing reasonably well, King was without the killer instinct that Premier League strikers need- or was it luck that they need? Whichever it is, King was without it.
Substitutes
Lee Tomlin- 6: Came on in the 73rd minute to replace Stanislas and in that time was able to tee Ritchie up for a chance- little else to report.
Yann Kermorgant- 5: Came on for the misfiring Josh King in the 73rd minute, but was kept relatively quiet.
Tokelo Rantie- 6: Taking up role in the number 10 role, Rantie’s energy was an asset in the dying minutes; but like with the rest of the Bournemouth side, very little product.
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