It’s fair to say last night wasn’t a classic, but we got the job done against a stubborn Bournemouth side who’ve been tough to beat under new boss Gary O’Neil.
The 1-0 win featured plenty sloppy moments and a lack of cutting edge in the final third, but it saw us build on our incredible defensive record at St James’ Park.
It was our FIFTH straight clean sheet at home, as we’ve now stopped Everton (1-0), Aston Villa (4-0), Crystal Palace (0-0), Chelsea (1-0), Bournemouth (1-0) in that period, meaning we haven’t conceded a goal on Tyneside since Ivan Toney’s penalty in a 5-1 win over Brentford.
173 days on from his arrival on Tyneside, Sven Botman is still yet to lose a competitive game of football for the club when he’s started. 16 games, 11 wins, nine clean sheets and another dominant display last night.
Pope has been a revelation between the sticks, Schar has added consistency to his game, Trippier rarely puts a foot wrong as our on-field skipper and Burn has been rock-solid at left-back, with our all-action midfield and constant pressing making us horrible to play against from front to back.
We haven’t conceded more than once since August’s defeat at Anfield – although we all know their second shouldn’t have stood – have racked up nine clean sheets already and haven’t conceded a home goal from open play since September! In fact, only Man City (3-3) have scored more than one goal at St James’ Park this calendar year.
Eddie Howe’s Mags are improving in possession, look fitter than ever, press better than any other side in the league, sit fourth for goals scored and third in the table, but it’s our run of clean sheets at St James’ Park that is the latest stat to be admired.
