17 February 2024 , 18:11
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Matt Ritchie rescued a faltering Newcastle in another home setback for Eddie Howe’s men.
The ex-Bournemouth man struck during ten minutes of injury time against his former club and celebrated by booting down the corner flag. Long-serving Ritchie is in his last season on Tyneside and had only played 103 minutes off the bench this season but was thrown on as a last-gasp sub, and delivered his first goals since July 2020.
The leveller was much needed by Newcastle but it doesn’t mask their current troubles. They’ve won just two points from 12 in their last four home games and conceded 12. And considering the visitors included Luton, Forest and now Bournemouth, that’s not top-seven form.
It was a stirring fightback in a great St James’ Park atmosphere, but disappointment will linger ahead of a trip to Arsenal next weekend. A glaring weakness in the Geordie defence has been exposed recently, especially on their left side, when Dan Burn is faced with fast sprinting right-wingers.
Antoine Semenyo was the latest to score by running at Burn unchallenged, and it was almost the winner. In recent weeks Burn has been exposed by Anthony Elanga, Chiedozie Ogbene and now Semenyo, and Bukayo Saka will fancy his chances next week, unless Howe acts and uses Tino Livramento.
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Howe has called for an end to chaotic games and demanded more control. But the goals continue to fly in at both ends. Newcastle certainly are entertaining. "Sometimes our fans don’t know what they are going to get," Howe said pre-match, and so it proved.
Dominic Solanke opened the scoring, grabbing his 14th Premier League goal of the season just after the break after a freak slip by keeper Martin Dubravka. Defender Sven Botman played the ball back to the Slovakian who took a touch ready to clear but lost his grip, and Solanke was sharp off his blocks and slotted the loose ball home.
There was a swift fightback from Newcastle who have bounced back quickly from conceding in recent home games. Kieran Trippier swung in a free kick and Adam Smith pulled Fabian Schar’s shirt inside the box. Ref Michael Salisbury didn’t see the incident and VAR intervened.
Dan Burn was once again exposed against a pacy winger in Antoine Semenyo (Lee Parker - CameraSport/Getty Images)After a long delay, checking for a foul and potential offside, the penalty was given and Anthony Gordon converted. Bournemouth were soon back in the lead - and left-back Burn was again under scrutiny as Semenyo gave him a rough ride.
He collected the ball 40 yards out, ran directly at Burn, who backed off and didn’t lay a finger on his opponent allowing Semenyo to smash home from 20 yards out. Newcastle fans have questioned Howe’s loyalty to Burn after he had a nightmare against Luton two weeks ago when they conceded four at home.
He has stuck with his senior defender in the starting line-up, only bringing Tino Livramento on when the damage has been done. Then came the ten minutes of injury time, and Ritchie struck, first heading Kieran Trippier’s free-kick against Lewis Cook, then hammering home the loose ball.
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