Kluivert Hat-trick Hero in 4-1 Thrashing

18th January 2025 | By Tom Whittick

The Cherries’ Justin Kluivert was the star of the show in this enthralling encounter at St James' Park. With both sides in great form before kick-off, something special was needed to overturn the Magpies… and that’s exactly what happened here as the Cherries cruised to victory.

Eddie Howe will be furious he couldn’t pluck any points from his former Cherries after such an impressive unbeaten streak up to this point.

Kluivert Hat-trick Reminiscent of Patrick

Newcastle’s nine-game unbeaten streak was put to an abrupt halt after a magical Kluivert performance, the Dutchman scoring his second hat-trick of this season in the stadium his father Patrick played at in 2004/05. In fact, Justin scored more goals in the first half at St James' Park than father Patrick managed in a whole campaign at Newcastle in the latter stages of his illustrious career.

The highlight of the match was a rifle of a strike from Kluivert, nearly from another postcode, to cap off the hat-trick. An immense display of both skill and confidence.

Milos Kerkez also got on the scoresheet after a well-placed shot nestled its way into the right-hand side of the net, rounding off an impressive 4-1 victory for the Cherries.

Iraola ‘Very Proud’

Andoni Iraola has expressed how pleased he is with his players after a victory of this magnitude. Speaking to TNT Sports, he said:

"I’m very proud. We’ve been playing very complete, [I think we] started the game very strong, didn’t want to lose our identity in the difficult circumstances. With the bench players, we decided to play like we normally do.

"Every player who played today has done his part, and extra."

With such a depleted squad, to get a victory like this just proves how good Andoni is for Bournemouth. It’s vital we can keep him for as long as possible—a top tactician and a top coach.

Cherries Injury Woes Continue

Bournemouth’s battle against injuries continues as many first-team players, including the likes of Evanilson, Enes Ünal, Marcos Senesi, Marcus Tavernier, and Adam Smith, are all sidelined with significant injuries.

Despite being victorious today, Cherries fans may wince looking at the fixture list with such significant absentees. In today’s game, the Bournemouth bench had only nine Premier League appearances between all of them, compared to Newcastle’s bench, which had over 900 combined.

The only silver lining is that academy graduates will get their shot at first-team football. Today, Remy Rees-Dottin and Ben Winterburn were given their first-team debuts after the game was wrapped up by Kerkez in the closing minutes. Congratulations to them both on this achievement.

In-form Super Swede Silenced

Alexander Isak is rapidly becoming the Premier League’s most prolific marksman, sitting in third on the scoring charts with 15 top-flight goals so far this season.

Pre-match, Isak was on an eight-game scoring streak in the league and was within reach of Jamie Vardy’s record of 11 consecutive games.

Isak was near enough silent the whole game, proving little threat to the defence that consisted of Lewis Cook, who had the lightning-quick Anthony Gordon to deal with, Illia Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen, and Milos Kerkez.

Dean Huijsen, in particular, had a great game, keeping track of his man throughout, ensuring little danger at the back for the majority of the game besides a looping header from Bruno Guimarães.

Milos Kerkez had another great game both defensively and offensively, keeping his opposing winger quiet as well as getting his goal in the latter stages.

It Could Have Been More…

The Cherries were unlucky to not have an even greater scoreline after a controversial decision to disallow Dango Ouattara’s strike, which at the time made it 3-1.

The ball was deemed to have gone out of play before Sandro Tonali’s clearance away, which caused some confusion within the stadium.

Upon reflection, it was the correct call, but a controversial moment of the game for sure.

A Statement Victory

Overall, this game is huge in boosting Bournemouth’s confidence further against top sides this season, with three points gained against the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, and now Newcastle.

With a draw against Chelsea in the last game and Newcastle beaten today, the Cherries are really starting to prove themselves as a side that can, and will, be competing for European football this season.

A fantastic team performance which needed some individual brilliance to get it done in style.