It should have been sealed earlier! – Howe revels in dramatic Bournemouth win

Eddie Howe welcomed a “huge” win for Bournemouth in a 1-0 victory against Newcastle United that he felt his side should have wrapped up sooner than Steve Cook’s dramatic injury-time goal.

The Cherries were slow out of the blocks in the first half at St James’ Park and Dwight Gayle had a contentious goal ruled out when following in a Matt Ritchie shot that hit the post.

Callum Wilson missed a great one on one and Marc Pugh hit the post late on, before Cook’s thumping header stole the points for the visitors to lift the Cherries out of the relegation zone ahead of the international break.

“It’s a huge win. We were second best in the first half but we upped our game,” Bournemouth boss Howe told BBC Sport.

“We should have sealed the game earlier, we haven’t been clinical enough all season but we got the points we deserved in the end.

“Back-to-back away wins are huge, our record has not been good. You need to know that you can win anywhere.

“It sets us up nicely, being out of the bottom three before the break.”

NO BETTER FEELING!#afcb pic.twitter.com/uSYTTeZDsl

— AFC Bournemouth (@afcbournemouth) November 4, 2017

Howe was particularly impressed with Wilson, who started a Premier League match for the first time since January, and lively strike partner Josh King.

He added: “Callum Wilson was excellent, you miss chances, it happens. We’ll take any win, regardless of how they come.

“That was the Josh King of last season. He was strong, he pressed, he ran, he looked a goal threat and if he plays like that he’ll get the goal total he got last season.”

Opposite number Rafael Benitez was disappointed with Newcastle’s failure to take their chances and does not believe the Gayle decision had an impact on the outcome match.

“It’s always hard when you lose a game in the last minute,” he said.

“I have seen it [the disallowed Gayle goal] but it will not change anything. We have to understand that in these sort of games we have to do better.

“We have created chances in every game, you have to score. We have to keep going, we are Newcastle United, a good team that has been promoted.

“Maybe the break is good, we can keep working with the players. I was happy before the game with how we have been doing but disappointed now. It is still early.”