Newcastle United suffered their third straight defeat and their fifth loss in six games at the hands of AFC Bournemouth with the visitors coming out comfortable 3-1 victors.
Summary of the game
Steven Taylor was back in the side, with captain Fabricio Coloccini and summer signing Chancel Mbemba both out injured, the path was cleared for the English pairing of Taylor and Jamaal Lascelles.
However Taylor’s return to the side will be one that he will want to forget, as the defender tried to cut out a cross from Joshua King, he unfortunately turned the ball into his own net, gifting the Cherries a 1-0 lead.
Despite playing in front of their home support, Steve McClaren’s side didn’t seem to react well to going down, the Newcastle side failed to create too many clear cut chances throughout most of the game.
Then in the 70th minute Matt Ritchie provided a perfect pass for King to power a shot into the back of the net and things looked grim for the home side.
Jonjo Shelvey was arguably Newcastle’s best player on the pitch as the January signing continued to impress since moving from Swansea City.
The England international spotted a through ball to Ayoze Perez and the Spaniard finished in 77th minute. Perez looks to be suffering from having to play up front by himself, not possessing the physicality to latch onto the high balls and crosses that Newcastle like to play, but he proved that given the right chance he can find the back of the net.
Yet even though the home side had a good chance of levelling things if they pushed hard, again they seemed to lack the desire to really attack Bournemouth and they paid the price as Charlie Daniels found himself in space in the box and fire with his left foot, giving Bournemouth a 3-1 lead in stoppage time.
McClaren has his say
The former Derby County manager is under immense pressure and it is fair to say that the pressure is justified. With Newcastle looking at a top half finish at the start of the season, and are now facing a difficult relegation battle, the 54-year old will need to turn things around quickly or he may lose his job.
“I’m very disappointed. That was definitely a poor performance and ‘going down’ material. The only positive is that we have 10 games to go.”
Despite not finding any positives in the performance against Bournemouth, the manager still feels that his side possesses the quality of players that is required to avoid the drop.
With Swansea moving nine points above the relegation zone, it means that Newcastle, Sunderland, Norwich and Aston Villa are the four teams that look likely to be the ones contending for survival. Villa look almost certain to be playing their football in the Championship next season, meaning that there are still two places for relegation yet to be determined.
“We are fortunate that we’ve got 10 games and that’s enough. It’s a four-team league now and we play everyone around us.”
If Newcastle have three very winnable games in their next five matches, yet if they drop too many points there, the future will look dark for the black and whites.