Newcastle United 1-3 Bournemouth
- Published
Newcastle's Premier League survival hopes suffered a fresh blow with a damaging home defeat by Bournemouth.
The result increases the pressure on Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren, with his job thought to be on the line.
Magpies defender Steven Taylor diverted the ball into his own net to give Bournemouth a 28th-minute lead.
Joshua King smashed in for 2-0 before Ayoze Perez pulled a goal back, but Charlie Daniels drilled in a late third to give the Cherries a deserved win.
'You're getting sacked in the morning'
Anti-McClaren chants and angry boos echoed around St James' Park at the end of another pitiful display by the home side.
Former England boss McClaren cut a beleaguered figure on the touchline, having arrived for the game amid speculation, external that defeat would spell the end of his tenure, which only began in the summer.
It is now five defeats in the six matches for Newcastle - who spent about £100m in the past two transfer windows but again find themselves labouring at the wrong end of the table.
After the display against the Cherries, few of their supporters would back the team to survive this one.
With just 10 Premier League matches remaining, will owner Mike Ashley choose to stick or twist?
Bad luck and lack of belief
Newcastle will point to a moment's misfortune in the first half that gifted the Cherries the lead, as central defender Taylor's attempt to cut out King's low cross instead diverted the ball into his own net.
But instead of pulling up their socks after that setback, Newcastle's players retreated into their shells.
McClaren's men created few clear-cut chances, with the best of those seeing French striker Emmanuel Riviere - making his first league start of the season - and Jonjo Shelvey go close with early strikes.
Artur Boruc's near-post block from Daryl Janmaat was the only time the visiting goalkeeper was called into serious action, and although Perez's late goal gave Newcastle hope, the players appeared to lack belief to get another.
Bournemouth set an example
McClaren would probably like to know Eddie Howe's secret.
Earlier in the season the Cherries - pre-season favourites to go down - suffered successive heavy defeats against Manchester City and Tottenham. But they have since earned wins against the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United and now find themselves 11 points clear of the drop-zone.
There is a strong team spirit instilled by Howe, which was evident once again at St James' Park.
The influence of Max Gradel, who only recently returned from a serious knee injury suffered in August, was integral to their success today.
He fed the ball to King that led to the own-goal and went close himself with a deflected shot that looped narrowly wide. King himself had one of his best games of the season, producing a confident finish to give his side a two-goal cushion.
For Howe, a manager with a huge future, he can just about relax in the knowledge that he has almost secured his side's Premier League future.
Man of the match - Max Gradel (Bournemouth)
Manager reaction
Newcastle boss Steve McClaren: "I'm very disappointed. That was definitely a poor performance and 'going down' material. The only positive is that we have 10 games to go.
"We have got to find the fighters in the team and the performance today did not epitomise that. We cannot play like that and hope to stay up.
"But we are fortunate that we've got 10 games and that's enough. It's a four-team league now and we play everyone around us.
"There was a certain edginess and you could see that in our play. We lost our shape. Normally we are a good attacking team, but today we were poor on the ball. You can only say that the pressure got to them.
"I can't see any positives but we have to stick together as a staff and as a team, and fight."
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe: "That's a big win for us and I thought it was thoroughly deserved. It was a bit nervy at the end but it was great to get a third goal to seal it.
"It was tighter perhaps than it should have been but I was very pleased with a great performance. We had a real threat about us going forward. It was great to see us score three away from home.
"I think the crowd here can work one of two ways. We wanted to dominate the ball and thankfully we got on top.
"It's a good position to be in and we want to just finish the job that we have started. But we have some massive games to come and it's not over yet.
"It would mean everything for us [to stay up]. There's a lot of pressure on us but so far we are coping quite well."
The stats you need to know
The Cherries are unbeaten in all five of their away Premier League games in 2016 (W2 D3).
The Magpies suffered their first defeat at St James' Park since Boxing Day.
Matt Ritchie now has 25 assists in league football for Bournemouth, nine more than any other player at the club since he signed in January 2013.
King scored his first Premier League goal since his strike against Man United in December.
Taylor scored his first own goal in the Premier League since December 2006.
Newcastle's record of 24 points from 28 games is their lowest in Premier League history.
What now?
Perhaps that should read "where now?" for Newcastle. The Magpies - with McClaren at the helm or otherwise - are at title-chasing Leicester on Monday, 14 March.
As for Bournemouth, they are at home to Swansea next Saturday.
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