Bournemouth caught in a Gayle until Smith and Gozza salvage a point 2-2

Match Report

AFCB 2 v 2 Newcastle Utd

24 February 2018

Attendance: 10,808

Bournemouth take on Newcastle at a cold Dean Court.

Adam Smith and Dan Gosling saved Bournemouth's blushes on a day that was cold and the football was stone-cold poor from a Bournemouth point of view. Much of the predicament Bournemouth found themselves in during this game was of their own making. Newcastle did not exactly blow the Cherries away, but the Cherries had no idea how to stop crosses or defend with any semblance of composure. Matt Ritchie was given free reign to raid down the right before a shambles at the near post allowed Dwight Gayle the time to back heel his first goal in with apparent Gayle's second, just before half time, was well created and saw the ball slip under Begovic to leave Gayle with a free invitation to score again.  A 2-2 draw in the end was a lucky escape for Howe's men who left it until the last 10 minutes to play with the swagger that Bournemouth fans want to see for 90 minutes. 

Bournemouth look to keep their home form going well with a fourth win in a row.

It was good to see Jermain Defoe back on the bench while Josh King was given a start, but there was not a wholesale change from the Huddersfield defeat and Harry Arter  and Jordan Ibe were not in the squad.

Dwight Gayle would be a real problem for the Cherries.

There are more pictures on Match Day Gallery. You can also get a flavour of the ups and downs of the game by seeing my video diary on Chimes to Camera. 

The game started with some good early play from Josh King and some strong tackling by Steve Cook as both sides had a share of possession. Dan Gosling was getting on the ball and had a good opportunity to open the scoring, but put his header from 12 yards out high and wide.

Stanislas whipped a good low cross in but it was too far away from Wilson to get to. This was followed by another Bournemouth attack with Stanislas shooting wide on seven minutes. Stanislas then won a free kick and took it himself, before Wilson had a shot on the turn saved. 

Daniels had to block a shot from Perez, before Kenedy put a volley wide. Kenedy had another chance from a free kick, but shot over on 14 minutes. 

Matt Ritchie had been quiet to this point but he soon grabbed a chance to run down the right unnoticed and slipped in behind Bournemouth's defence having been spotted by Johnjo Shelvey. The cross from Ritchie should have been cleared but was left Dwight Gayle with the ball and his back to goal just three yards out! The play seemed to be in slow motion as Gayle had an age to check his position and back heel the ball across the line for the first goal on 17 minutes - 0-1 to Newcastle!

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Ritchie almost benefited from a mistake by Steve Cook but shot wide. A Bournemouth corner led to a well hit but rising drive by Stanislas.

Bournemouth were not in control of the game and Wilson was hardly involved and when he did come back to tackle he caught Kennedy and committed a foul. After 35 minutes Wilson went down in the box after a challenge from Dummett, but it was no foul for referee Roger East.

The chances had not dried up but they were falling to the wrong person I guess with Gosling again putting a cross from Daniels over. Bournemouth were seeing the ball turnover far too easily.

While Bournemouth tried to force the pace, all they ended up in doing was giving the ball away. A Newcastle corner from a Kenedy deflected shot soon had Bournemouth in further trouble. The ball came out Dummett who crossed and Pedro somehow squeezed the ball under Begovic  from beyond the far post to leave Gayle with a tap in for 0-2. Half time was a relief.

Ritchie was happy at half time.

Newcastle deserved their lead.

Adam Smith comes on to get Bournemouth into the game.

Second half

Bournemouth subbed Charlie Daniels and Adam Smith came on. Lewis Cook was still having difficulty in making passes but Francis was showing improvement.

Natahan Aké was booked for a foul on Gayle on 53 minutes. Gosling fouled Ritchie a few minutes later but escaped punishment. 

Bournemouth were not making much progress and even with a corner and a header wide from Nathan Aké it was hard to imagine where a goal might come from. Lys Mousset, on 64 minutes, then replaced Ryan Fraser who had been on the end of a heavy challenge from Shelvey in the first half. Christian Atsu then came on to replace Kenedy.

It was a scrappy second half up to this point and it was helpful at least that Newcastle were also playing poorly. Newcastle had a free kick to extend their lead, but it hit the wall and the follow up from Pérez went over.

Bournemouth subbed Wilson and brought on Jermain Defoe on 72 minutes. He immediately made an impact shooting and seeing his deflected shot hit the side netting for a Bournemouth corner.

Lys Mousset almost crafted a goal cutting it back for Steve Cook to head but the keeper, Dubravka, managed to keep it out while injuring himself on the post and Johnjo Shelvey.

There was a delay over another corner as Newcastle subbed Gayle and brought on Hayden. The delay worked well for Newcastle who had a break on. Perez shot down the left and found Atsu who passed on to Shelvey and with the goal gaping, he amazingly shot wide from a few yards out! Aké had done his best to put Shelvey off.

That's when the game changed. King and Lewis Cook worked well before Lewis Cook back heeled it to Adam Smith, who picked the ball up just inside the box on the left and drilled a shot that flew in off the underside of the bar to make it 1-2! Bournemouth were back in it with 10 minutes to go.

Yedlin was given a yellow for fouling King. Bournemouth were applying the pressure. All Nwcastle could do was make another sub as Ritchie was replaced by Manquillo on 84 minutes. Diame made a bad foul on Lys Mousset and was booked. It was all Bournemouth now.

Stanislas took the free kick and got it over the wall but Dubravka held on to the ball well. The ball was then set up by Francis who crossed from the right to find King who controlled it well and played it wide on the left to Aké, and his pass fell to Gosling who smashed in the equaliser on 89 minutes! It was another Bournemouth recovery act.

Five minutes of added time saw Lys Mousset do well with a low cross that was kept out by Dubravka at his near post. Bournemouth won a couple of late corners, but could not find the winner and had to settle for 2-2.

Eddie congratulates Steve Cook.

Summary

Bournemouth were lucky. This was a poor performance again by the Cherries and it is quite unbelievable that there was no spark and energy about the first half performance. There was nothing about Bournemouth that looked composed or cohesive until Adam Smith started running at defenders in the second half. His goal was a lifeline and it stimulated more from Josh King and Dan Gosling as Bournemouth came forward. The cavalry charge is well and good for Bournemouth at Dean Court, but they should not have been playing poorly enough to be 0-2 down in the first place. There is no doubt this is a good point, but why oh why were Bournemouth such a shambles for most of this game? It was as if the long break didn't do them any favours at all.

AFCB Line up

AFCB Subs: Boroc, Simpson, A Smith, Surman, Pugh, Mousset, Defoe.

AFCB Ratings
Begovic 4, Francis 6, S Cook 5, Aké 6, Daniels 4, A Smith 8, Stanislas 5, L Cook 5, Gosling 7,
Fraser 6, Mousset 6, King 7, Wilson 5

Cherry Chimes' MoM: Adam Smith


Referee Rating Roger East: 4/10 Ryan Fraser is probably still asking why he was not awarded a penalty.

Newcastle Utd

Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Lejeune. Dummett, Ritchie (Manquillo 84), Shelvey, Diamé,
Kenedy (Atsu 64), Pérez, Gayle (Hayden 78)

Newcstle Utd Subs
Darlow, Clark, Manquillo, Merino, Atsu, Hayden, Joselu

Bournemouth will be pleased to have grabbed a point from this one. 

Cherry Chimes T-Shirt Competition
Well done to @mchubble30 and @mrbert71 who both win a Cherry Chimes' T-shirt with Chris guessing the scorer (Adam Smith) and Dave picking the right score of 2-2.