Bournemouth boss suggests Newcastle United foul play amid ‘top side’ assessment

Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil was proud of his team’s efforts against a “top side” in Newcastle United.

Eddie Howe’s men edged past the Cherries to book their place in the last eight of the Carabao Cup following Adam Smith’s second-half own goal.

The visitors had chances late on but goalkeeper Nick Pope denied both Jack Stacey and Dominic Solanke to record a fifth home clean sheet in a row.

“I was pleased with what the lads produced,” O’Neil said. “Obviously, it was a tough tie against a top side. They haven’t lost a game here in a long time. I thought we were competitive right to the wire and at the end, we had some big moments.

“Of course, they had spells where we had to be resilient and organised, which we were. It’s disappointing to lose to an unfortunate own goal.”

Howe put down a statement before kick-off by naming arguably his strongest starting XI, featuring returning World Cup stars Pope, Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson, Bruno Guimaraes and Fabian Schar.

O’Neil added: “We gave our best but we go out of the Carabao Cup against a top side that are obviously taking the competition very, very seriously with the team they named and the subs they made.

“Newcastle away in the Carabao Cup with the form they’re in was never going to be an easy draw and the boys gave a good account of themselves.”

The scoreline remained 0-0 on the hour-mark, prompting Howe to introduce Allan Saint-Maximin from off the bench.

“Again, I thought we were competitive against a top side who were at full strength,” O’Neil said. “They bring on Saint-Maximin and I thought Smudge (Adam Smith) was excellent.

“To play an hour and then have Saint-Maximin against you, it’s a tough ask but I thought he was fantastic, as a lot of them were.”

Although the officials disallowed what looked like a perfectly good opening goal from Wilson for offside, O’Neil felt referee Gary O’Neil got away with some foul play.

The former Middlesbrough man added: “I don’t think Kieffer (Moore) or Dom (Solanke) got too much help from the referee. Newcastle were clever with sort of nudges in the back. Dom’s got a nasty stamp on his foot from an incident in the first half.

“Away to Newcastle, you don’t expect to be a dominant force but I felt we carried a threat and there was always something there that kept Newcastle on us and knew we could hurt them.”