Newcastle fail to intimidate Bournemouth as Cherries run riot at St James’ Park

NEWCASTLE 1-4 BOURNEMOUTH: This was supposed to be about Newcastle setting records, about Alexander Isak. Not about injury-ravaged Bournemouth. But Iraola is a manager who does not follow the scripts

Standing well over six feet tall and with short sleeves and short shorts to stress his muscularity, Joelinton looks every inch a tough guy.

And Justin Kluivert, slight of frame, certainly felt the full, illegal force of the Newcastle United midfielder just before half-time.

But if Joelinton, St James’ Park and a Newcastle United team on a roll thought they could intimidate Kluivert and his team-mates, they were badly, badly mistaken.

Momentarily, Kluivert went for Joelinton’s throat in response – just as Bournemouth came to town and went for the Newcastle throat.

Andoni Iraola and his team are no respecters of reputation or size, that is for sure. This was supposed to be about Newcastle setting records, about ten wins on the spin, about Alexander Isak.

Not about injury-ravaged Bournemouth, not about a team shorn of conventional strikers, not about Kluivert. But Iraola is a manager who does not follow the scripts, his team having already beaten Arsenal and Manchester City this season.

And the late strikes from Kluivert, to complete his treble, and from Milos Kerkez gave the scoreline an emphatic look that Bournemouth’s performance thoroughly deserved.

They were in control of this contest from the moment Kluivert struck his first of two early on. If nothing else, the sweetly-worked and sweetly-struck opener was the least Bournemouth fans deserved for sacrificing a decent night’s sleep in order to get to St James’ Park.

That’s a 710-mile round trip – almost as far as The Proclaimers went – to sit about a mile away from the pitch, by the way. The latest official supporters coach to leave Bournemouth departed at 2.30am.

No-one with any sort of authority over the timing of games cares a jot about the travelling fan, about the loyal fan. Club owners and executives have sold their souls to television and that is that. But at least this Bournemouth team is worth travelling a long way, at bizarre hours, to watch.

And David Brooks is certainly worth travelling a long way to watch, his prompting of the move that led to the Kluivert strike not his first piece of clever work. Never mind his uplifting back story, Brooks is a real talent and to see it shine is fantastic. He had a composure that was significantly lacking in Newcastle ranks.

And Brooks is not the only real talent in this Bournemouth squad with their hat-trick hero making an irrefutable case for being the best Kluivert to perform at St James’ Park … and dad Patrick played here for a season. He might not be a conventional striker but his finishing was world-class.

The first two – that sandwiched a Bruno Guimaraes equaliser – were cool and precise, the third was a violently-whipped hit from range that was a microcosm of Bournemouth’s overall work. Crisp and perfectly-executed. Which was in complete contrast to the work of Eddie Howe’s team.

Joelinton’s indiscipline was typical, Anthony Gordon looked half-interested, Isak strolled, Lewis Hall looked lost from the first whistle. But to stress the Newcastle negatives would be to do Iraola and his men a grave disservice.

The final goal of their demolition job was a fitting finale to their display. It is deep into added time, they are ahead by a two-goal margin, and Kerkez, a full-back, runs 70 yards to join in an attacking move and finishes it with a beautiful strike.

It was what the previous 96 minutes had been all about – Bournemouth serving up a perfect blend of hard work and quality. They are now unbeaten in ten Premier League games (won six, drawn four) and are unbeaten in their last six Premier League away games (won four, drawn two).

Iraola is doing a quite sensational job. Sat close to me in the stands was Neil Lennon and he described it as one of the best team performances of the season. And he was not wrong.

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