Bournemouth 1-1 Newcastle: Marcos Senesi and Miguel Almiron score first-half goals in a tense draw

In the stadium he once called home, there was no great comfort and a little too much familiarity for Eddie Howe. Bournemouth’s reawakening saw to one and another draw saw to the other.

That’s five in six league games now for Newcastle. No losses in that time, no fall from the top four either, and indeed an extension to 17 for their unbeaten run. But it’s a significant slowing of pace nonetheless and races at the sharp end of this division are rarely forgiving of those in limp mode.

Of course, it’s the sort of drama that most clubs would love. Relish even. And yet if we believe in such concepts as momentum, then there must be a scintilla of concern for Howe that air is leaking from the balloon when they have forthcoming league games against Liverpool and Manchester City either side of the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United.

That they have created such grand opportunities for themselves tells the story of Howe’s time at the club, which remains at least as big a factor in their rise this season as the immense wealth of their Saudi backers. But that being said, dropping points against Leeds, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Bournemouth does have an ominous ring to it.

Miguel Almiron cancelled out his strike with an eqauliser on the stroke of half time

Newcastle could have gone four points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham with a win 

The visitors were sloppy in defence in the first half and should have stopped Senesi’s goal

Almiron’s eqauliser came against the run of play following a poor spell from the Magpies

Perhaps more so was the nature of this one, which marked Howe’s first return to the club where he spent most of his career before leaving in 2020.

As with recent games, his attack was too ineffective for too long, but this one was undermined further by uncharacteristic weaknesses at the back. There were multiple errors involved in going behind to Marcos Senesi’s strike at a set-piece, and even after pulling their way back through Miguel Almiron, they showed vulnerabilities, particularly at the death when they required Kieran Trippier to clear off his own goal-line to prevent defeat.

Again, drama is a relative term – for Bournemouth it meant seven defeats in eight in all competitions before this game. Gary O’Neil will certainly be the more content that it played out as it did, and likely more frustrated with the even distribution of points.

To think, Callum Wilson, another whose name was made in these parts, had said earlier in the week he wouldn’t celebrate if he scored against his former club. That turned out to be presumptuous on two counts, as it was confirmed prior to kick off he would be absent because of a minor hamstring strain.

That meant a return for Alexander Isak at the point of Howe’s attacking trident following time out in line with concussion protocols. He spent most of the subsequent match starved of service, watching on as the supply lines between Newcastle’s midfield and striking three were routinely interrupted by Jefferson Lerma and Philip Billing. That was troubling for Howe but weaknesses at the back soon became the pressing issue.

The first of the alarms sounded after 12 minutes when Dominic Solanke shoved himself free of Sven Botman and headed a decent save from Nick Pope. Dango Ouattara was also fractionally off with a throughball for Solanke after turning Joelinton and Jaidon Anthony sliced a third chance wide, all of which supported an assumption of vulnerability.

That was underlined with the opening goal via a set-piece on the half hour. Newcastle’s defensive unit has banked sufficient credit to be forgiven the occasional blip, but Howe visibly winced when Ouattara was allowed by Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn to move attended across the six-yard box before glancing Hamed Traore’s corner to Senesi at the far post. Unmarked, he stabbed Bournemouth in front.

Alexander Isak struggled to get in the game after starting ahead of the injured Callum Wilson

Eddie Howe would have hoped for a better result on his return to his former club

From there, Newcastle lost Joe Willock to what appeared to be a thigh issue and also flirted with conceding a second goal, too, when Solanke had a reasonable chance which he headed directly to Pope. It was getting dicey.

But out of those difficulties, Howe’s side found a way of landing a gut punch in stoppage time. Allan Saint-Maximin was the standout component in its creation, injecting some pace and verve to a move up the left before rolling in-field to Sean Longstaff. Fancying his chances, he tried to beat Neto from the edge of the area, and the subsequent save, good as it was, presented an opening on the rebound for Almiron against a floored goalkeeper. He took it well.

The second half was more stable and also a touch sedate until Newcastle came within a whisper of going ahead on 70 minutes. Saint-Maximin, again, was the protagonist, drilling a shot that Neto spilled, before Anthony Gordon, as a substitute, poked the loose ball wide.

That was close; Solanke went closer at the other end, when his shot was cleared off the line by Trippier. It said plenty that Howe looked a little relieved when the whistle sounded a couple of moments later.