Two second half strikes from Dominic Solanke condemned Newcastle United to a 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday.
Solanke blasted home on 60 minutes to open the scoring before doubling his tally 13 minutes later to earn the points for Bournemouth, who could have scored more against a depleted United side. Former Cherries boss Eddie Howe lost another key member of his squad, Miguel Almirón, in the first half as Newcastle’s injury problems worsened on a day to forget on the South Coast.
In a tight first half, the hosts made sure Nick Pope was the busier goalkeeper. He was forced to save from Ryan Christie within the first minute and while Sean Longstaff made Neto make a similarly important stop soon after, it was the Cherries who were asking the majority of the questions. Only a superbly-timed, last-ditch block from Jamaal Lascelles stopped Solanke from pulling the trigger in the box early on.
But just before the hour, Solanke struck, latching on to a loose ball behind the United backline and drilling home past Pope at the near post. It was a goal which, in truth, Andoni Iraola’s men deserved, but it owed much to an unfortunate touch off Willock, which allowed Solanke the chance to run onto it and put his team ahead.
Anthony Gordon tested Neto again and Ben Parkinson was brought on for his Premier League debut just as another youngster, Lewis Miley – on his first top flight start – was taken off. But still, it was the Cherries who carried the biggest threat, and with just under 20 minutes remaining they made sure of the points. Ritchie inadvertently diverted a corner onto his own post and Solanke reacted quickly, improvising to flick home from close range with the outside of his foot.