Newcastle United came from behind to draw 1-1 against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League (PL), but Eddie Howe is still forced to continue his wait for a first win against the Cherries as Magpies manager.
Howe’s side enjoyed an encouraging start, with Alexander Isak delivering an inviting cross that Julián Araujo awkwardly headed over his own crossbar. The Cherries soon grew into the game and, in keeping with the end-to-end nature of the match, Evanilson gave Nick Pope his first test with a powerful strike in the 19th minute moments before another promising Isak pass trickled across the opposite box.
Antoine Semenyo came agonisingly close to an opener for the hosts in the 27th minute, curling a beauty of a strike that eventually cannoned off the crossbar on its way behind. As the Bournemouth pressure grew, Marcus Tavernier’s free-kick bounced precariously off the Magpies wall before being unconvincingly pushed behind by Pope. That pressure eventually told in the 37th minute, when Semeny stole the ball from Joelinton and drove it across the box to set Tavernier up for a simple finish.
There was a real determination to Bournemouth’s play that Newcastle struggled to deal with, and a brilliant Dan Burn block was required to stop Semenyo converting from Justin Kluivert’s low cross shortly after the restart. Howe took action with a double change before the hour mark but Semeny initially continued to star, jinking his way into the box before delivering a pass that Evanilson couldn’t quite turn in at the back post.
Harvey Barnes was one of those introduced and couldn’t find the target from a big chance, and Neto impressively denied Joelinton shortly after.
Barnes eventually made his mark with a quarter-hour remaining, getting the better of Araujo and crossing to the back post for Anthony Gordon to convert. Alex Scott and Semeny both went agonisingly close while Neto made brilliant stops to deny Burn and Bruno Guimarães. Dango Ouattara even had the ball in the net but it was adjudged to be a handball as the sides were forced to settle for a share of the spoils. That keeps both teams unbeaten at the beginning of this PL season.
