Newcastle’s limitations exposed by Bournemouth before hosts fight back for draw

A reality check is not necessarily a bad thing. There has been a lot of hype and excitement on Tyneside and a self-congratulating tone to their own end of summer appraisals.

But this was a reminder of the team’s limitations and the fact that only three of their eight summer signings started the game, with two more coming off the bench, underlined they are a work in progress.

In truth, that is fine. It is the start of September and the Premier League campaign is only three games old. They have a new manager and a new-look team. There has been a significant amount of change in a very short period of time.

It was not the easiest summer, and despite the insistence from senior figures at the club that they had always remained calm and methodical during their summer reset, there was a whiff of crisis only a few weeks ago.

When Eddie Howe quit as manager and Bruno Guimarães, the captain, forced his move to Arsenal at the start of August, Newcastle looked in disarray. So, to have started the season unbeaten from three games against Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth is encouraging.

It is also worth highlighting just how good the visitors were. In the first half Bournemouth were superb, rushing Newcastle, forcing mistakes and pouring forward in numbers. In Alex Scott, just as he was in their victory here last season, Bournemouth had the best player on the pitch.

That opens up another conversation. Newcastle played like this a lot at home in Howe’s final season in charge, especially in the second-half of the campaign, but tended to lose not draw the game.

On this occasion, they secured a decent point with a late equaliser thanks to substitute Ramsey, who looked good when he replaced the off-colour Lewis Miley.

Bournemouth will feel they should have held on. They had taken a deserved lead through Marcus Tavernier, who took advantage of a static and ball-watching Amar Dedić to bundle home from close range.