Bournemouth scored a massive 3-1 win over Newcastle United at St James' Park on Saturday.
The Cherries made it two wins on the trot to move 11 points clear of the relegation zone in their debut Premier League season.
Eddie Howe's visitors struck first just before the half-hour mark when Joshua King's cross from the left side of the box deflected in off Steven Taylor before the former Manchester United youngster made it 2-0 with 20 minutes remaining.
King took a neat touch on the turn from Matt Ritchie's low delivery before emphatically firing beyond Rob Elliot and into the roof of the net.
The Magpies were able to give themselves some hope on 80 minutes when Jonjo Shelvey played a lovely bouncing ball into the path of Ayoze Perez who raced into the area and controllably slotted past Artur Boruc but Bournemouth struck on a third occasion in stoppage time when left-back Charlie Daniels picked up possession and midfield and raced at the non-existent Toon defence before lashing home.
The result has the Cherries sitting nicely in 14th, just five points from guaranteeing safety, while Steve McClaren's Magpies remain second bottom having lost their past three in the league
MATCH OVERVIEW
Newcastle United: 1 (Ayoze Perez 80')
AFC Bournemouth: 3 (Steven Taylor (OG) 28', Johsua King 70', Charlie Daniels 90+2')
St James' Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne - 52,107
TALKING POINTS
- Are Newcastle set for the Championship once again? It appears there is absolutely no team spirit. McClaren, if he stays on, has an enormous task to keep the Magpies up.
- Bournemouth heading towards safety on the back of 3-game unbeaten run. Now the pressure is almost off regarding a relegation fight, will they play with more freedom and shoot up the standings?
WHAT'S NEXT?
Newcastle's next league fixture is schedule for March 14 against league leaders Leicester while Bournemouth will look ahead to a Sunday home clash with Swansea City on March 13.
TWITTER INSIGHT
Fantastic win on Saturday to end a great week, Support was unreal!! Happy to get another goal
— charlie daniels (@chazdaniels13) March 7, 2016
What a big result yesterday from everyone. #afcbpic.twitter.com/2GCvmpdGTK
— Adam Smith (@AdamSmith912) March 6, 2016
Team spirit, team tactics and our fans support has been immense this week. Let's keep it going, getting closer and closer to safety. #afcb
— Benik Afobé (@BenikAfobe) March 5, 2016
QUOTES CORNER
Newcastle's McClaren on his future as manager:
"I have enough experience. I have been through this, I have had chants like there have been today quite a few times and that's the perils of being a manager, and especially of this team this season."
Bournemouth boss Howe on his side's survival hopes:
We have got a lot more work to do. We play Swansea next week, so the games get bigger from our perspective.
"We don't want to let up until we know we are safe, and even if we are able to hit that mark, then we want even more."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
1 - Newcastle defender Steven Taylor's own goal was his first in the Premier League since December 2006. Unfortunate.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 5, 2016
25 - Matt Ritchie has assisted 25 league goals for Bournemouth since he signed for the club in Jan 2013; 9 more than any other player. Tidy.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 5, 2016
