Soccer News

Bournemouth ,Newcastle play to a 2 all draw

Matt Ritchie struck with almost the last kick of the game to earn Newcastle a share of the spoils against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

The former Cherries player sent a spectacular volley into the top corner from DeAndre Yedlin’s cross to rescue a point for Rafa Benitez’s side.

Joshua King had turned the game in Bournemouth’s favour in the second half, sending Martin Dubravka the wrong way from the penalty spot before finishing coolly into the far corner from Dominic Solanke’s pass.

Salomon Rondon had given Newcastle the lead in first-half stoppage time, curling a superb free-kick into the top corner from the edge of the area.

Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson almost netted his 12th league goal of the campaign with the score at 1-1, but Paul Dummett cleared the forward’s goal-bound header off the line.

The point lifts Bournemouth above Everton into 11th place, while Newcastle remain 13th.

Ritchie comes back to haunt his former club

Only Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United had collected more points than Newcastle from their last nine games before the Magpies’ trip to the south coast.

The visitors were without two of their most consistent performers during that spell, with Jamaal Lascelles sidelined through injury and Fabian Schar suspended after picking up his 10th yellow card of the campaign against Everton last weekend.

Their replacements – Paul Dummett and Federico Fernandez – coped admirably with the threat of Bournemouth’s attack in the first 45 minutes, restricting the hosts to just two attempts before the interval.

It was Fernandez, however, who gifted Bournemouth a route back into the game when he fouled Nathan Ake inside the penalty area following a Cherries corner, giving Mike Dean little option but to point to the spot.

Had it not been for Dummett’s goal-line clearance from Wilson’s header, though, Benitez’s side might have left the Vitality Stadium empty-handed.

The 25-year-old’s header appeared to be sailing over Dubravka and into the back of the net but the Newcastle skipper’s acrobatic clearance rescued the Magpies.

In the end it was former Bournemouth midfielder Ritchie who made the decisive contribution, volleying home his first league goal from open play this season to edge his side closer to Premier League safety.