Almirón salvages point for Newcastle as Eddie Howe returns to Bournemouth

Eddie Howe always knew his return to Bournemouth would fiddle with his emotions but his homecoming was laced with frustration as Newcastle played out another draw, but only after surviving a late scare. Newcastle were fortunate to end up with a point, with Kieran Trippier’s goal-line clearance heading into seven minutes of second-half stoppage time denying Dominic Solanke a late winner. Bournemouth’s players prayed Trippier’s intervention was too late to stop Solanke’s backheel from Hamed Traoré’s cross going over the line, but the referee Stuart Attwell checked his watch and replays showed the Newcastle captain did just enough.

Bournemouth were reluctant to be too hospitable given their current predicament – they remain the only English top-flight team without a win since the World Cup and had lost seven of their previous eight matches – but their matchday programme referred to Howe’s time in charge of the club, more than a decade across two spells, as the kind of fairytale journey usually only seen on Football Manager. When Howe took over at Bournemouth in 2008, non-league was looming, the club’s existence at peril and he resorted to paying for masseuses out of his own pocket.

This was Howe’s very first visit back to this stadium since departing as Bournemouth manager in August 2020, following relegation to the Championship, and it was no surprise he was given a warm welcome as he stepped off the Newcastle team bus. Howe is Newcastle’s leader but the Bournemouth links do not stop with him. Matt Ritchie and Ryan Fraser, key players for Bournemouth that season, were among the Newcastle substitutes but Callum Wilson was absent with a hamstring problem.

Simon Weatherstone, another fixture of Howe’s staff, leaped from the bench into the away technical area as Miguel Almirón equalised at the end of first-half stoppage time. Allan Saint-Maximin, who had flattered to deceive, kept the ball in play and located Sean Longstaff who galloped into space centrally. Longstaff forced Neto, the Bournemouth goalkeeper given the captaincy this week, into a save but the rebound fell for Almirón to tuck in across goal. Bournemouth could have doubled their advantage moments earlier after Dango Ouattara cut the ball back for Jordan Zemura but the left-back declined to shoot.

Marcos Senesi shows his delight after giving Bournemouth the lead. Photograph: Simon West/Action Plus/Shutterstock

Ouattara, a 20-year-old winger signed from Lorient last month, was bright throughout and his header helped the ball on for Marcos Senesi to deservedly open the scoring after half an hour. Traoré, another January arrival, swung a corner in, Ouattara eluded the Newcastle captain, Kieran Trippier ,to glance the ball towards the back post and Senesi poked home.

Gary O’Neil acknowledged in his programme notes that Howe’s achievements here need little explaining. But the Newcastle manager has never been one to indulge in the spotlight and the reality is Howe would have been deeply disappointed with his team’s start. Before Senesi pounced, Dominic Solanke, who Howe signed for Bournemouth, forced Nick Pope to paw his awkward glancing header to safety after meeting Jaidon Anthony’s deft cross.

The second half was relatively stop-start – any lull descended into Bournemouth supporters making clear their disdain for Fraser who declined to sign a contract to play for the club in the final months of the extended lockdown season in his final year here – but both teams went close to snatching the lead through substitutes. Marcus Tavernier failed to get any conviction on a shot after being threaded through in the box and Anthony Gordon, who replaced the injured Joe Willock during the first half, prodded wide after Neto spilled a Saint-Maximin shot.

Newcastle supporters chanted the name of their former winger, Christian Atsu, who Howe signed on loan for Bournemouth upon promotion to the Premier League in 2015, throughout the first half. Atsu’s agent has said the Hatayspor winger is still missing following the Turkey-Syria earthquake.