Newcastle United once again failed to find any sense of calm in their play as they conceded at least two goals for the third game in a row.
Newcastle went behind twice in the match, after seeing out an exciting but goalless first half. A Mistake from Martin Dubravka and a fine finish from Antoine Semenyo gave Bournemouth two separate leads in the tie.
However, a penalty from Anthony Gordon and a late equaliser from Matt Ritchie managed to lead Newcastle to a point. Yet, the Magpies have now failed to win in their last four home ties.
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Story of the Match
An injury to Callum Wilson in the final minutes of the away game at Nottingham Forest made him ineligible to play for Newcastle. With the still-recovering Alexander Isak not available, Eddie Howe was left with no available strikers.
The starting 11 was the same as against Nottingham Forest, with the exception of the injured Wilson making way for Harvey Barnes. The winger was to have his first start since he picked up a foot injury at Sheffield United away in the first half of the season.
AFC Bournemouth lined up similarly as in their away loss to Fulham last week. The only changes were the replacement of Alex Scott with Justin Kluivert, and Luis Sinisterra making way for Semenyo on the wing.
The first half began with equal and early pressure. Both sides were involved in a biting and hard-fought midfield battle which led to breaks for their respective attacking lines.
The first real chance came for Bournemouth in the 16th minute. A breaking Kluivert played a neat ball across to Dominic Solanke, whose left-footed effort was parried by Martin Dubravka and then cleared by Sven Botman.
Only a minute later, Barnes had the ball at the edge of the Bournemouth box and attempted a curled effort into the far corner, but the effort was wildly off-target.
In the 24th minute, a Marcus Tavernier fizzed ball across the face of the goal resulted in a close-range save for Dubravka, who made a vital stop once again against Solanke to make sure Newcastle didn't go behind.
In the 38th minute, a Miguel Almiron shot crept just past the far post of Neto's goal.
Though Newcastle had the lion's share of possession come the end of the first half, it was no doubt Bournemouth who had the better chances, and Andoni Iraola could be satisfied with his team's performance.
In the second half, it was Newcastle who started strongest. In the 49th minute, a well-worked move ended in an Almiron chance. The Paraguayan curled a left-footed effort just over the top-left corner of Neto's goal.
Just two minutes later, however, Newcastle would come to regret their missed chance. A Sven Botman pass back to Dubravka looked certain to be easily played out to the left, but the keeper slipped at the vital moment and Solanke was there to pounce with an easy finish into the goal, tapping into the empty net with his right foot.
Once again Newcastle failed to keep a clean sheet in a Premier League match; they have not kept one in their last eight league matches. Solanke has now scored 14 goals in the league this season.
Minutes later, from a Newcastle set piece a lengthy VAR check took place due to a shirt pull on Fabian Schar. After a possible offside was ruled out, Michael Salisbury was called to the monitor and then awarded a penalty to Newcastle.
Without a striker, there were questions over who would take the penalty. Anthony Gordon elected to take the spot kick, and confidently placed a right-footed finish into the bottom right corner of Neto's goal. The prolific winger is now on eight league goals for the season.
Newcastle started to take control of the game. In the 65th minute, a ball was rolled across the front of the goal by Bruno Guimaraes, almost reaching Barnes, Marcos Senesi narrowly avoided placing the ball into his own net via the clearance.
However, despite looking more comfortable in the game, Newcastle would be made to pay for their high press and slow defence. In the 69th minute, a ball won in the middle by Solanke was played wide to Semenyo who tested the struggling left-back Dan Burn.
Burn in his reluctance to close the winger down, due to his pace, gave the Ghanaian international too much space and he flashed a right-footed effort beyond Dubravka.
Burn was promptly taken off after the second goal for Bournemouth, with Tino Livramento coming on in his place.
In the following twenty minutes, the game was mostly contested in the middle of the pitch, with neither Newcastle threatening to equalise, nor Bournemouth threatening to score a third and put the tie to bed.
Ten minutes of extra time was put on the board, due mostly to the lengthy VAR check earlier. In the 90th minute, both Matt Ritchie and league debutant Joe White were substituted on for Newcastle in place of Almiron and Lewis Miley.
Less than two minutes later, the former Bournemouth man would come back to once again haunt his old side. A Guimaraes floated ball into the Bournemouth box was headed down by Ritchie, the ball then bounced off a Bournemouth defender before the Newcastle veteran stabbed home from close range.
It was Ritchie's first home goal for Newcastle since a penalty for Newcastle under Rafa Benitez in a 2019 win over Manchester City. It was the second time Ritchie has scored a late equaliser against Bournemouth for Newcastle, last doing so in 2019 whilst Howe was still manager of the south coast side.
Newcastle could've potentially stolen all three points, but Jacob Murphy could not direct a late header on target, and Dubravka was called to make a vital stop from a Bournemouth counter deep into injury time.
By the end both teams had lost all sense of shape, and were both desperately trying to find some way to win the game, though both sides would have to settle for a point in the end.
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Player of the Match: Dominic Solanke
The striker was causing all sorts of problems for the Newcastle defence, and on another day could've scored a hat trick from the chances created for him. Ultimately, he was the most threatening player on the pitch, and with both defences leaking, was inarguably the star of yet another breathless Newcastle game.
