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This season will once again be a balancing act for Eddie Howe. Newcastle struggled to adapt to the schedule during their first Champions League campaign for two decades in 2023-24 and there is a clear strategy to manage workloads this time around. Three days after defeat by Barcelona at St James’ Park, a goalless draw for Howe here on his return to Bournemouth to face a side in good form will feel like a job well done.
Newcastle made six changes to the team that lost in Europe on Thursday, only one of them enforced as Nick Woltemade returned to the lineup with Anthony Gordon serving the last match of his suspension. A back five was deployed and sat stubbornly in their own third to begin with.
Andoni Iraola kept the visitors guessing, switching his wingers more than once in the opening exchanges. Tyler Adams, set up by David Brooks’s back-heel from the right, drew the first save from Nick Pope. Brooks, this time from the left, was then found by Evanilson’s cutback and finished coolly, only for the offside flag to go up.
Jacob Murphy, only a second-half substitute against Barcelona, was Newcastle’s biggest threat. He had their best chance of the half when he combined with Woltemade and Sandro Tonali before having a shot saved by Djordje Petrovic.
It was perhaps no surprise that, by the time the half-time whistle went, there was a feeling that both teams were cancelling each other out. Howe studied Iraola’s Rayo Vallecano during his sabbatical after leaving Bournemouth five years ago; the two coaches are known to exchange text messages occasionally and take leaves out of each other’s tactics books.
Woltemade, involved in fits and starts in the opening period, began to make more of a nuisance of himself after the break. The travelling supporters were up in arms when, after touching down Tino Livramento’s cross, the tall Germany striker appeared to have his shirt tugged by Bafodé Diakité in the penalty area but the referee, Robert Jones, was not convinced.
In introducing Anthony Elanga and Harvey Barnes with half an hour to go, Howe was clearly looking for more cut and thrust at a ground where he is still yet to win since leaving in 2020 after 12 years across two spells as manager. Bournemouth were continuing to marshall Woltemade well, the home crowd letting out a little cheer every time Newcastle’s record signing was beaten, against the odds, in an aerial challenge. Those jeers grew louder with every careless touch or unheard appeal for a foul from the German, who scored on his debut against Wolves last weekend.
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It was Iraola, however, who was the more agitated on the touchline. He had thrown on Justin Kluivert, the scorer of a hat-trick in this fixture at St James’ Park last season, in the hope of more of a goal threat. The Spaniard was particularly aggrieved when Newcastle’s Malick Thiaw, who had just received a yellow card for handball, escaped another moments later for a cynical foul on Ryan Christie during a Bournemouth breakaway. Thiaw was withdrawn a couple of minutes later.
After dummying a free-kick for Christie to lift into the arms of Pope, Kluivert was not going to pass up the opportunity to have a strike at goal when Bournemouth were awarded one in shooting range in stoppage time. The Dutchman’s powerful but low effort was batted away by Pope to preserve Newcastle’s point. After Barcelona and Bournemouth, it is Bradford up next for Howe’s side as they begin the defence of their Carabao Cup title.
