Newcastle boss Eddie Howe’s wait for a win against old club Bournemouth goes on after a drab 0-0 on the south coast.
The point sees the Cherries continue their strong start to the season, while the Magpies have now recorded four clean sheets in their opening five games, but are still struggling for goals.
Howe’s team have scored just three times so far and this was a game of very few chances for either side and short on entertainment.
Howe, who has now not beaten his former side in seven attempts, made seven changes to the side which lost at home to Barcelona in the Champions League on Thursday.
Bournemouth won 4-1 at St James’ Park in January, thanks largely to a hat-trick of penalties from Justin Kluivert, who started on the bench this time.
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There were fresh faces in both teams, with right-back Álex Jiménez making his first start for Bournemouth, and Malick Thiaw doing likewise at centre-back for Newcastle.
It was Andoni Iraola’s Cherries who created the first opening when David Brooks’ clever back-heel teed up Tyler Adams, with Nick Pope saving his low shot with his legs.
The Magpies responded with a slick move down the right which saw Sandro Tonali release Jacob Murphy to shoot from a tight angle at Djordje Petrovic.
Brooks was prominent early on and thought he had scored after lashing in Evanilson’s cut-back before the offside flag was raised and the
VAR check showed it to be just about the right call.
Newcastle have been struggling in front of goal this season but Tonali went close midway through the half as he shot just over from the edge of the area.
Howe was appealing for a penalty six minutes into the second half when Nick Woltemade appeared to have his shirt pulled by Bafodé Diakité, but referee Robert Jones was unmoved.
With the pattern of play remaining unchanged, both managers turned to reinforcements on the hour mark.
For Iraola, that was Kluivert and Ryan Christie, while Howe brought on Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga to add pace to his attack.
A driving run from Barnes deep into the Bournemouth penalty area brought the visiting supporters off their seats before James Hill made an excellent last-ditch tackle.
Kluivert finally forced a save from Pope with a low free-kick in the final minute of normal time as Newcastle did a good job of stifling Bournemouth’s dangerous attack.
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England defender Dan Burn in particular excelled at the back for the visitors.
With Yoane Wissa expected to be out for another month, the source of Newcastle’s goals will remain a concern for Howe ahead of next Sunday’s home game against Arsenal.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, have only been beaten by Liverpool this season as Iraola and his side continue to impress.