Newcastle 2 Bournemouth 2
Newcastle welcomed Bournemouth to St James’ Park, with Eddie Howe looking to beat his bogey side. The Magpies’ manager has not won a single game against his old team since he left them after a successful spell as The Cherries’ boss.
Trippier received a ball from Almiron and volleyed in a cross to the back post. Gordon met it with a header but the former Everton winger put his effort wide of the target. It bounced just in front of him but he should have done better.
The Cherries then broke on the counter and Kluivert played a brilliant pass in behind the defence to pick out Solanke. He looked to bury his shot in the bottom corner but Dubravka got down well to save and Burn cleared before the visitors could capitalise.
Christie then found Kelly out wide who put a teasing ball in across the six yard box. Solanke slid in and met it but his shot was blocked by The Magpies’ keeper. The Bournemouth striker will have felt he should have scored.
Credit: @afcbournemouth
Despite the intimidating atmosphere at St James’ Park, it was the visitors who’d had the clean cut chances in the first half. Andoni Iraola will have wondered whether his frontman was going to have an off day in Tyneside.
As the visitors looked to pin Newcastle into their own half, Botman played the ball back to Dubravka. The Magpies’ keeper controlled it and then slipped on the greasy surface. Solanke reacted quickly and nipped in to tap the ball into an empty net.
Eddie Howe’s side had a free kick, which Trippier clipped the ball into the box. Schar went to ground demanding a penalty. The referee waved away their protests and play continued. Finally, a free kick was awarded to Bournemouth for an offside.
VAR reviewed the incident and asked the official to go to the monitor. After watching numerous replays, he returned to the field and reversed his decision to award Newcastle a penalty. Gordon stepped up and buried his shot into the bottom corner.
The current rules state that as the pulling of the shirt happened before the offside, they are able to award the penalty. However, as the replay shows, this foul actually starts outside the box so the correct decision would surely have been to award a free kick.
Solanke then picked the ball up on the halfway line fed it to Semenyo out wide. He ran towards the edge of the box and rifled a shot across Dubravka and into the back of the net. The travelling fans up in the gods behind the goal celebrated wildly.
Credit: @afcbournemouth
The review process that awarded the hosts their penalty had taken the best part of five minutes. As a result, there was ten minutes of added time. This is another problem with VAR, it is turning Premier League football into 100 minute games.
Not that Eddie Howe’s side were complaining. As Guimaraes lifted the ball into the box, Ritchie headed it back across goal. It struck the legs of Cook, Neto managed to keep it out with his feet but the Newcastle substitute smashed the ball home to equalise.
It was a dramatic end to the game and Iraola’s side will feel it was two points dropped. They had created the better chances in the match and should have really put the game to bed before the hosts had an opportunity to draw level.
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