3 players who fired Newcastle United past Bournemouth
By Durim Halimi
Newcastle United taught Bournemouth a lesson on the south coast after claiming a 4-1 victory yesterday.
Steve Bruce made multiple changes to the starting lineup for Newcastle United’s trip to Bournemouth, but his selections paid off. The Magpies took the lead early on through Dwight Gayle and kept their foot on the pedal to claim a 4-1 victory.
Sean Longstaff left the game in the first half with a hamstring injury, but not before he found the back of the net. Joining him on the score sheet were Miguel Almiron and Valentino Lazaro. Newcastle United were clicking on all cylinders, but the following players stood out with their stellar performances.
Allan Saint-Maximin
The dynamic Frenchman was one of the worst players in the FA Cup clash against Manchester City, but he made up for that by providing three assists against Bournemouth. The Cherries’ back line failed to cope with the pressure he applied, and they could not contain his technical skills in the final third.
Saint-Maximin did a brilliant job setting up the opener for Gayle, dribbling past two defenders to find Longstaff wide open in the middle of the box, and his quick pass to set Almiron free sealed the deal for Newcastle United. His three assists led to three massive points.
Jonjo Shelvey
Newcastle United lacked creativity in their FA Cup exit over the weekend, but Shelvey’s presence changed all that yesterday. Newcastle United were comfortable on the ball and enjoyed the majority of possession as a result of Shelvey’s coordination in midfield.
Bournemouth’s lack of urgency enabled the Magpies to spread out, which gave Shelvey plenty of time of dish out accurate diagonal long balls to his wingers. The mercurial midfielder is known as the team’s main playmaker and he lived up to that reputation when he set up Lazaro for the fourth goal.
Miguel Almiron
The Paraguayan star was on the bench, but he came on and kept the momentum going in favor of the Magpies. The speedster enjoyed the freedom to roam up the middle and was able to spread the ball out wide near the penalty area as a result.
The key highlight of his performance was the goal he scored in the 57th minute. Almiron kept running once he received a pass from Saint-Maximin, dribbled away from his defenders at an angle and curled the ball into the top corner with ease. That goal marked Almiron’s third goal of the season and his seventh across all competitions.