Newcastle held to third straight away draw at Bournemouth in EPL
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Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe applauds fans after the match.
REUTERS
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LONDON – Newcastle United were held to a 0-0 draw at Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sept 21 in a dull game of few chances, as the visitors remain winless on the road.
Although the Magpies kept a third straight away clean sheet, it was also a third consecutive goal-less draw that left Eddie Howe’s side 13th in the standings with six points, while Bournemouth moved provisionally up to third on 10.
“We know Bournemouth are a really good team. We limited them to long shots and Nick (Pope) made some good saves. We didn’t get our attacking game going,” said Howe.
On having no shots at all in the second half, he added: “It’s not good. You want to create chances and clear-cut chances. It didn’t feel that in our performance. We are going through one of those phases where it’s hard to score away from home.”
Newcastle defender Dan Burn instead focused on the positive of a clean sheet.
“We’ve worked a lot on it (our defence). We have a good team there,” he said.
“We’re happy and got something to build on. We’ve not attacked as we’ve liked but we are a very good attacking team. Start of the second (half) we could have been braver and take more risks.
“A point is good and we changed six or seven players today. It showed the depth we’ve got in this squad. We’ve invested well in the summer and we’ve spent a lot of money.”
Howe made several changes to his line-up in search of his first league win against his former side, but despite a lively start from both teams, the first half lost momentum with injury stoppages and ended with few clear chances.
Newcastle had a penalty appeal waved away when Nick Woltemade had his shirt tugged, and Justin Kluivert nearly won it for Bournemouth with a free kick in added time, only for Nick Pope to make a fine save.
“We have to value the point, we are playing against a Champions League club,” said Cherries boss Andoni Iraola. “I’m happy with the performance. The way we defended, we played in their half and we didn’t concede many set pieces. The ones we did, we defended really well.
“It is a good start. We were not as brilliant today as we were in previous games but we have to be competitive. We have to keep this level of performance.”
In another match, Aston Villa drew 1-1 with 10-man Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, piling more pressure on their manager Unai Emery, whose team are now in the relegation zone.
The visitors took the lead midway through the second half through Matty Cash, but they were pegged back by the Black Cats, who had Reinildo Mandava sent off before the break.
Wilson Isidor’s goal restored parity and Villa, still searching for their first win of the season after five matches, were made to settle for just a point. AFP, REUTERS
