Cherries leave sour taste on Howe's return as Solanke downs Newcastle
The hosts got off to a blistering start against Eddie Howe’s depleted side - which included Lewis Miley, who became Newcastle’s youngest-ever PL starter - with Ryan Christie and Antoine Semenyo both testing Nick Pope inside the opening two minutes.
The hosts carried on pushing despite a warning shot from Sean Longstaff, and a brilliant intervention was required from Jamaal Lascelles to stop Dominic Solanke’s effort after Semenyo had released the frontman.
Concerns were surely building for Howe around the half-hour mark, as Pope was forced into action by venomous strikes from Justin Kluivert and Christie, either side of Miguel Almirón being forced off through injury.
On the other hand, Andoni Iraola will have been wondering how his side wasn’t going into the break ahead, as Semenyo slid the ball wide from one opening and was let down by his touch after being played through on goal again.
The trend continued into the second period, with Solanke latching onto a sloppy passback from Kieran Trippier, but knocked the ball out of play when he attempted to round Pope.
Bournemouth had their first real scare shortly before the hour mark, as Trippier’s free-kick delivery was awkwardly dealt with by Neto and Solanke’s attempted clearance hit Joe Willock but stayed out.
Perhaps that brought the extra push they needed, with Solanke putting them ahead moments later after Willock’s tackle on Semenyo poked the ball into the striker’s path.
Anthony Gordon hit a speculative attempt that was comfortably held by Neto and 18-year-old Ben Parkinson was brought on for his club debut as Newcastle searched for an equaliser.
However, having never scored in his first seven matches against Newcastle, Solanke instinctively scored a second in 13 minutes when he reacted quickest to Luis Sinisterra’s header hitting the post.
That helped Bournemouth to record back-to-back home wins after not tasting victory in the league before that this term.
The Magpies’ night was encapsulated when Sean Longstaff stroked his effort harmlessly off-target, as they surrendered their seven-game unbeaten run in the PL and have lost consecutive competitive matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth)
