Huddersfield Town 0-2 Bournemouth: Wilson scores on injury return
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Callum Wilson scored Bournemouth's opener in his first match since 19 January
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe praised Callum Wilson as a "unique player" after the striker scored on his return from injury in the Cherries' win at Huddersfield.
Wilson, who had been sidelined since January with a knee problem, forced home Ryan Fraser's cross to put the Cherries ahead in the first half.
The same duo combined for Bournemouth's second goal after the break, with Wilson crossing for Fraser to sweep home his sixth Premier League goal of the season and secure the south coast side's first away win since October.
"Callum Wilson is a unique player, he has the ability to run in behind, he is strong, powerful, he took his goal really well, and the most impressive thing was his assist for Ryan [Fraser]," Howe told BBC Match of the Day.
"Behind the scenes he has done a lot of work and I had no doubt he could play for a long time, but even I was surprised it was 90 minutes, but that shows how professional he is."
Bournemouth stay 12th despite the win but are now 10 points clear of the relegation zone. Huddersfield, meanwhile, remain bottom and are now 16 points from safety, with relegation now looking all but certain.
Joshua King could have extended Bournemouth's lead, but his shot from outside the area was well blocked by Jonas Lossl.
The Norwegian then failed to scramble the ball over the line after Nathan Ake's header was cleared into his path by Mathias Jorgensen.
Huddersfield, looking to secure back-to-back home wins for the first time since November 2017, were full of effort but their lack of killer instinct again let them down.
They matched their opponents in managing eight efforts at goal, but only one of those was on target - a tame first-half shot by Steve Mounie that was easily saved by Artur Boruc.
Wilson impresses in front of Southgate
With England manager Gareth Southgate watching in the stands, Wilson could not have picked a better time to return to the Bournemouth line-up.
Southgate names his squad on Wednesday for European Championship qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro later this month, and Wilson, who scored on his England debut in November, certainly made a strong case for inclusion.
The 27-year-old showed few signs of rustiness despite this being his first appearance since 19 January.
His return also seemed to bring the best out of Bournemouth's other attacking players, with King, Fraser and David Brooks all impressing.
Wilson had already seen an early effort well blocked by Huddersfield keeper Lossl by the time he escaped his marker at the far post to chest home Fraser's cross for the opener, his 50th league goal for the club in his 138th appearance.
He then showed great awareness for Bournemouth's second, opting not to shoot after running on to King's pass and instead laying it across for the unmarked Fraser to score.
"For anyone coming back from injury you want to make an impact and it was nice to get a goal and an assist and three points for the team," Wilson told BBC Match of the Day.
"From past games you have confidence you will score, I will get a chance and thankfully I could be clinical and take the chance today. We let them off the hook with only scoring the two really."
When asked about the watching Southgate, Wilson added: "When you focus on club performance, hopefully I can get the recognition internationally."
Manager Howe said before the game that he was "desperate" for his side to end their woeful away run of nine successive defeats, stretching back to a 3-0 victory at Fulham on 27 October.
The Cherries conceded at least two goals in each of those nine games, so Howe is also likely to be impressed with the way his side saw the game out with a clean sheet, with Ake once again dominant in the heart of their defence.
The only negatives on an otherwise comfortable afternoon were injuries to Adam Smith and Brooks, although the latter's substitution meant a return to action for January signing Dominic Solanke for the first time in over a month.
No end product for Huddersfield
A 22nd Premier League defeat of the season all but ends Huddersfield's chances of avoiding relegation, with head coach Jan Siewert calling the performance "unacceptable".
The German, who has now lost five of his six games in charge, admitted beforehand that this was a "must win" if the Terriers were to avoid the drop.
The Yorkshire club beat Wolves in their last game at the John Smith's Stadium, but never looked like threatening a repeat here.
"Not a good feeling at all. I am sorry for everyone who came here because this is not the football I can play with this team. We were unacceptable," Siewert told BBC Match of the Day. "I don't know why it is, talk to the players.
"There was no conversation. After the game I looked at the goals, saw what happened and I will talk to them tomorrow morning."
There is no doubting the effort and commitment of the players, but their lack of cutting edge in front of goal once again proved costly.
Siewert's gameplan was to cross the ball from wide areas and try to utilise the height of strikers Steve Mounie and Elias Kachunga.
They managed 25 crosses from open play and forced six corners, but never truly tested Boruc in the Bournemouth goal.
An early effort came from an Aaron Mooy free-kick, but Boruc was able to punch clear unchallenged.
Substitute Chris Lowe also momentarily caused panic when Boruc missed his cross from the left at the start of the second half, but Charlie Daniels was well-placed to clear.
Only two teams in top-flight history have scored fewer goals after 30 games than the 15 Huddersfield have notched up this season.
With just 10 games remaining and 16 points between themselves and 17th-placed Burnley, it would take a truly great escape for Huddersfield to avoid a return to the Championship.
Man of the match - Callum Wilson (Bournemouth)
Wilson and Ryan Fraser have combined for nine Premier League goals this season, more than any other duo
'I will fight for this club' - what they said
Huddersfield 0-2 Bournemouth: The first-half performance was unacceptable - Jan Siewert
Huddersfield Town manager Jan Siewert speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We tried in the second half, we were closer to my football and the way I am going to play like in the Wolves game. I will fight for the club, when we had the possibility to go for the equaliser they scored and it killed the game.
"It is a difficult situation and I knew that when I came in. I am a young manager, they haven't scored that much this season still but we had two goals and a win against Wolves and we have to continue like that. I will still keep fighting for this club."
Huddersfield 0-2 Bournemouth: We had our spring back - Howe on win
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We were very good today, we had our bounce back and a lot of quality. We could have scored more but the goals we scored were of the highest quality.
"The away form was becoming something we were desperate to stop talking about and we are delighted we could do it today. The players coming back from injury helped and I was very pleased with our performance and the goals.
"We took a bit of stick against Manchester City for the way we set up but we defended well and took that into this game. There were really good signs for Chris Mepham in the future who was brilliant today."
Goalscorer Ryan Fraser speaking to the Premier League: "When he [Wilson] was injured I was saying, 'When you back? When you back?' And he would say, 'Three weeks', and then, 'Two weeks', and I was thinking, come on! When you play with the talent he has, it brings the best out of everyone in the team. It shows he was a big miss for us.
"We knew they would have the ball and sometimes we are the best on the counter-attack. We have the players to do it and today was a good team defensive performance and a clean sheet as well.
"We have always been looking up the table, our aim is to try and get seventh, we know we have hard games coming up but if we focus and work hard we can do it."
Wilson scores against Huddersfield again - the stats
Only two teams in top-flight history have scored fewer goals after 30 games than the 15 Huddersfield have this season - Leicester City (13 in 1977-78) and Derby County (14 in 2007-08).
Bournemouth have ended a run of nine consecutive Premier League away defeats.
Callum Wilson netted his 50th league goal for Bournemouth in his 128th appearance.
Wilson has netted seven goals in six games against Huddersfield in the league, his best return against any side.
Ryan Fraser is the first Scottish player to register 10 assists in a single Premier League season.
Only Lionel Messi and Eden Hazard (11 each) have registered more assists in Europe's 'big five' leagues this season than Fraser (10, level with Jadon Sancho and Joshua Kimmich).
Wilson and Fraser have combined for nine Premier League goals this season (Wilson has set up four for Fraser, and Fraser has set up five for Wilson), more than any other duo in the competition in 2018-19.
What's next?
Huddersfield travel to the London Stadium to take on West Ham on Saturday, 16 March (15:00 GMT). Bournemouth are at home to Newcastle at the same time.