Leandro Trossard is confident every time Bukayo Saka has the ball he will make something happen as the Arsenal pair combined once again to open the scoring in Saturday’s win over Burnley.

Belgium forward Trossard has scored six goals this season and they have all been assisted by Saka, whose header to the back-post was bravely converted by his team-mate.

Arsenal won 3-1 to move second in the Premier League as William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko goals cancelled out Josh Brownhill’s equaliser for the visitors.

Mikel Arteta praised the “connection” Trossard has with his Arsenal colleagues but none is seemingly as strong as that he has with Saka.

“I don’t know why but every time B (Saka) is on the ball, I just know I need to make a movement or come close to him,” said Trossard.

“In this moment I just gambled on him winning the header and he did and that’s why I got the goal.”

Trossard risked injury to bundle home the opener, turning in Saka’s header from close-range before clattering into Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford and the post.

“In the moment I headed the ball I tried to protect myself,” he added.

“But I hit the post with my forearm and it was really painful but it’s okay and the pain has calmed down.

“It’s always nice to score a goal, of course, that helps your team to win a game and that’s what we did today so it was really important to go into the international break like this and we have done it.”

While the win sees the Gunners leapfrog north London rivals Tottenham, it condemned Burnley to a 10th defeat in their opening 12 games.

The Clarets have now lost five in a row in the league, shipping 14 goals and scoring just three in that time.

Brownhill drew them level for all of three minutes at the Emirates Stadium but the Burnley captain believes there is still plenty to take from recent performances heading into the international break.

“I think overall there’s a lot of positives to take but at the end of the day it’s a defeat, so everybody’s frustrated but like I say I think there’s a lot of positives in there,” he told the club’s official website.

“The confidence that we’ll take, even though the results haven’t gone our way, the performances have been really, really good. It was always going to take a little bit getting going.

“Now it’s time to rest, come back but we’ve got to start getting the results, that’s the main thing.

We can perform well as much as we want but the most important thing is the result and I believe in this team, what we can do and what we can achieve this season – so it won’t be long before we start getting the results we deserve.”

Victor Lindelof says Manchester United must keep building after Erik ten Hag’s below-par side fought for a fourth narrow win in five Premier League matches.

This has been a difficult second campaign to date for the Dutchman, who oversaw a ninth loss in 17 games in Wednesday’s 4-3 Champions League collapse at Copenhagen.

United rallied at a packed Old Trafford on Saturday and Lindelof’s second-half goal secured a 1-0 win against unfancied Luton, easing pressure before an international break they head into in a surprisingly good spot.

Despite relentless scrutiny and some chastening defeats, no team has won more points over their last five Premier League games than a Red Devils team with plenty of improvements to make.

“We want to score more goals and that’s the next step for us,” Lindelof said.

“Right now the most important thing is the three points and the result.

“But after that we have to keep going, keep working and building and hopefully we can score goals, close the game and not make it difficult for ourselves. But it’s step by step.

“We haven’t been playing at the highest level and we know that. We’ve just got to keep working hard.

“”We’re (not far) off the top four, and it shows that even if we’re not playing at the highest level, we can still get a result.”

All seven of United’s Premier League wins this term have come by a one-goal margin.

Ten Hag believes things will improve when his goal-shy frontmen’s form turns and is happy how others have stepped up in the meantime, with defender Lindelof lashing home just his fourth for the club on Saturday.

“It’s always special and nice to score a goal – I don’t score that many anymore,” the Sweden skipper told MUTV.

“To score the match-winner in front of the Stretford End is a special feeling and I felt that today.

“I saw the ball drop and I was thinking to myself ‘just try and hit it quite hard and quite high’. It was a good goal, I think.

“After the goal we dropped a little bit but, like I said, three points was the most important thing.”

Lindelof and many of his team-mates now turn their attention to international matters with United now not back in action until the trip to Everton on November 26.

Luton return to Premier League matters a day earlier at home to Crystal Palace as Rob Edwards’ promoted side look for a second victory of a season after a pair of promising displays.

“We are disappointed,” the Hatters boss said after a narrow loss at Old Trafford followed a 1-1 home draw with Liverpool.

“Of course, there was hard work in the performance and there was good quality in the second half from us.

“We showed a lot of bravery on the ball, and our fans know we aren’t a team that necessarily dominates on the ball.

“To grow on the ball in one of the best stadiums in the world and in the toughest league in the world is difficult, so the boys showed incredible bravery.

“It was harder to break United down later in the game as they got more players behind the ball, we just needed to find moments in the game at the right times and create some chances.

“I saw a determination, a steel, a grit about us in that first half, we rode our luck once or twice but had a chance of our own through the Carlton (Morris) header and it was important to stay in the game.

“The support we had from the fans was incredible today. It was very important at the beginning that we showed that respect which we did immaculately, and then I could hear them the whole game.

“It made me really proud to be representing this club and I hope everyone has a safe journey home.

“Take a lot from it, be proud of the football club today, but we are greedy and we want more points.”

Director of cricket Rob Key is ready to take his share of the blame for England’s World Cup downfall, insisting head coach Matthew Mott will be given “first opportunity” to put things right.

Having arrived in India among the favourites, the 2019 champions are set to depart on Sunday among the also-rans, having scrambled to a seventh-placed finish.

With six defeats from nine games, this goes down as the country’s worst ever performance at the event, leaving Mott under pressure after 18 months in the job.

Some read Key’s decision to jet out to Kolkata for the end of the tournament as a bad sign for the Australian, but he and captain Jos Buttler instead received the backing of their boss.

Rather than line either up as a blood sacrifice, Key focused on his own prioritisation of England’s Test fortunes, which have sparked to life under Brendon McCullum’s guidance.

“I look at what I’ve not done rather than blaming everyone else. I hold myself accountable for a lot,” he said.

“Since I’ve started this job, it’s very hard for me to be critical of Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott when I’m the one who, every single time a decision has been made around whether or not we focus on 50-over cricket, Test cricket or T20, I’ve always chosen Test cricket.

“When there was a choice in Pakistan over who got the best players, I’ve always said, ‘sorry, Test cricket gets that focus at the moment’. The same thing in South Africa. I’ve always chosen Test cricket. It’s not easy for coaches and captains when you haven’t got the ability to plan and have your best team.

“That’s not their fault. So I feel like it’s harsh if I turn around and blame the captain and coach. Really, I hold myself at the top of that list for what’s gone wrong on this trip.”

Key’s backing for Mott did come with a gentle reminder that the mandate was not open-ended, with next summer’s T20 World Cup an obvious barometer for improvement.

“As far as I’m concerned he gets my full backing. He’s the person to get the first opportunity to put that right,” said Key.

“But it’s certainly not a case of saying ‘carry on, let’s keep doing everything the same and get the same result’. You’re now the person charged with sorting this out – along with myself, along with Jos, along with everyone else who has any kind of decision-making authority in English cricket. It’s for everyone to be accountable for that.

“It’s pretty simple as a coach, your job is to make sure that every single player is improving and getting better and that’s what we haven’t done. He will accept that.

“I feel this actually should be the making of those two (Mott and Buttler) as a partnership. If it isn’t, it isn’t and you move on but we have to make sure some good comes out of what has been a very poor World Cup.”

Key suggested another decision he had got wrong was in not hiring somebody with greater knowledge of Indian conditions to their backroom team. When England won the T20 World Cup in Australia last year they not only had Mott’s expertise, but two other locals in David Saker and Michael Hussey as coaching consultants.

England have been guilty of picking the wrong teams, failing to judge a par score on particular pitches and made some poor calls at the toss. Most obviously, they opted to field first against South Africa in energy-sapping heat and humidity in Mumbai and were promptly run ragged.

“I set up a coaching team that had no local experience really,” he reflected.

“When you get to somewhere like Mumbai – and it all seems so simple now – you’re worried about dew and all of this other stuff. But someone who knows these conditions really well would say ‘it’s hotter than the sun out there; make sure you have a bat’.

“It was only in the last couple of games, have we actually understood the way that we went about things. We should have known this but we didn’t going into the competition.”

There will be more analysis in the coming days and weeks as England try to come to terms with going from all-conquering champions and 50-over trailblazers to a seventh-placed side feeding on the crumbs of Champions Trophy qualification.

But Ben Stokes may have said it best on the eve of England’s penultimate game against the Netherlands when he summed things by saying ‘the problem is we’ve been crap’.

Key, ultimately, could not put it better himself.

“I would agree,” he concluded.

British fighter Tom Aspinall needed little over a minute to become the UFC interim heavyweight champion, despite having just two weeks to get ready for his bout with Sergei Pavlovich.

The 30-year-old knocked out his Russian opponent in just 69 seconds with a punishing series of blows at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden.

Aspinall, who becomes just the third Briton to become UFC world champion, only got the call-up for the fight on October 25 after defending champion Jon Jones suffered a serious injury and pulled out of his contest against Stipe Miocic.

The Salford fighter said on TNT Sports: “It has been a crazy two and a half weeks.

“I want to tell everyone at home, If you ever get the chance to do something and you’re scared to do it, you should just do it.

“He’s a scary guy. I’ve never been so scared in my life but I have power too and I believed in myself.

“I’ve worked so hard over the years and no one has worked harder than my father so this belt is dedicated to him.

“I was struggling with the distance a little bit but we got there in the end.”

Brayden Schenn and Pavel Buchnevich each notched a hat trick and the St. Louis Blues rolled to an 8-2 drubbing of the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

Schenn’s hat trick was the fourth of his career and first since 2017 and Buchnevich tallied his third.

They became the third pair of teammates in franchise history to record hat tricks in the same game. It last happened in 1986. 

Alexey Toropchenko and Torey Krug also scored for the Blues and Jordan Binnington made 36 saves to help St. Louis win for the fourth time in five games.

Alexander Georgiev started and gave up six goals on 28 shots before he was replaced by Ivan Prosvetov early in the third period.

Colorado coach Jared Bednar remained one win shy of 300.

Maple Leafs’ Nylander extends point streak in win

William Nylander scored to extend his franchise-record season-opening point streak to 15 games as the Toronto Maple Leafs cooled off the Vancouver Canucks, 5-2.

Noah Gregor had a goal and an assist and Ilya Samsonov stopped 31 shots as Toronto won for the third time in four games following a four-game skid (0-2-2).

Nylander tallied his 10th goal of the season in the second period to forge a 2-2 tie and Gregor’s goal with 5:38 left in the period put the Leafs on top for good.

Nylander has 22 points during his streak and ranks among the NHL scoring leaders.

Vancouver got goals from J.T. Miller and Pius Suter as its five-game winning streak was snapped. The Canucks dropped to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.

Penguins down Sabres for fourth straight win

Erik Karlsson scored twice and Tristan Jarry had a shutout in his return from injury to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to their fourth consecutive win, 4-0 over the Buffalo Sabres.

Evgeni Malkin and Drew O’Connor also scored for the Penguins, who have outscored opponents 20-5 during the four-game run after losing five of six.

Jarry made 35 saves for his third shutout of the season and 16th of his career. He missed Thursday’s game at Los Angeles with a facial injury.

Donovan Mitchell got the best of the Warriors and Draymond Green, collecting 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists on a night Green was ejected in a 118-110 win over Golden State on Saturday. 

Green was tossed at the 6:23 mark of the third quarter with eight points, five rebounds and four assists.

Green pushed Mitchell with his shoulder and sent him out of bounds as Cleveland’s Caris LeVert drove for a layup. Moments later, Green was bringing the ball up court and Mitchell chased him down and instigated a heated altercation.

LeVert scored 22 points, Darius Garland had 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and five steals and Evan Mobley had 19 points and two of his team’s season-high 13 steals.

Stephen Curry scored 30 points to lead Golden State, which lost both matchups this season with Cleveland.

Short-handed Heat handle Hawks

Bam Adebayo had 26 points with 17 rebounds and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added a career-high 20 points to lead the depleted Miami Heat to their fourth straight win, 117-109 over the Atlanta Hawks.

Kyle Lowry scored 17 points, Josh Richardson had 16 and Duncan Robinson contributed 11 in his first start of the season.

Miami played without two of its top three scorers, with Tyler Herro (sprained right ankle) missing his first game and Jimmy Butler absent for personal reasons.

Trae Young led the Hawks with 27 points and 11 assists, while Dejounte Murray scored 23.

The Hawks hung around and were within 115-109 after Young made two free throws with 51 seconds left, but Lowry sank a pair from the line and Young missed a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left.

Magic end 14-game losing streak to Bucks

Paolo Banchero tallied 26 points and 12 rebounds and the Orlando Magic snapped a string of 14 consecutive losses to the Milwaukee Bucks with a 112-97 victory.

Franz Wagner scored 24 points and Mo Wagner added 19 off the bench for Orlando, which defeated Milwaukee at home for the first time since March 14, 2018.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 35 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Bucks played their second straight game without Damian Lillard (sore left calf).

Philadelphia 76ers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. was hit by a motor vehicle in Center City, Philadelphia on Saturday night and has been hospitalized in stable condition, a team spokesman announced.

Oubre is expected to miss significant time due to his injuries, but those aren’t considered to be season-ending. Local authorities are investigating the incident.

Team representatives, including 76ers President Daryl Morey are with Oubre Jr. at the hospital.

The 27-year-old Oubre Jr. was walking near his residence when struck, the spokesman said.

Oubre Jr. was signed by the 76ers as a free agent in September and is averaging 16.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals in eight games this season.

He has been a key contributor for a Philadelphia team that has won seven straight and leads the Eastern Conference with a 7-1 record.

Originally drafted by Atlanta in 2015, Oubre Jr. has also played for Washington, Phoenix, Golden State and Charlotte.

Harry Kane continued his record-breaking start to life at Bayern Munich with a brace in a 4-2 victory over Heidenheim that saw the defending champions move top of the Bundesliga.

The England captain’s first-half double at Allianz Arena took his tally to 17 goals in 11 league games for Bayern – 21 goals in all competitions – and saw him write more history.

Kane has now scored more goals than anybody else at this stage of the Bundesliga season, and his current tally is already more than the 2022/23 joint-leading scorers, Christopher Nkunku for RB Leipzig and Niclas Fullkrug for Werder Bremen, managed in the whole of last season.

Following Kane’s first-half brace, promoted Heidenheim had briefly threated an upset when they drew level at 2-2 but goals from Raphael Guerreiro and Eric Choupo-Moting sealed the points for Bayern, who are now one point clear of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen ahead of their match with Union Berlin on Sunday.

Kane is not the only player to have hit a hot streak at the start of the Bundesliga season.

Serhou Guirassy’s spectacular campaign with Stuttgart reached another high when he netted the winner in a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund.

The striker claimed his 15th goal from the penalty spot late on to give the home side all three points after Deniz Undav had cancelled out Fullkrug’s opener for Dortmund, who are now three points behind the third-placed Stuttgart.

Augsburg held Hoffenheim to a 1-1 draw after Ermedin Demirovic’s equaliser, Bochum’s game against rock-bottom Cologne also finished 1-1 while Darmstadt’s clash with Mainz ended 0-0.

In Spain, Real Madrid put Valencia to the sword in a dominant 5-1 win to keep the pressure up on surprise leaders Girona, who won again.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men cruised to victory without the absent Jude Bellingham, who was ruled out with a shoulder injury, after they opened the scoring in the third minute through Dani Carvajal.

Vinicius Jr netted a brace before his Brazil countryman Rodrygo managed a double.

Girona were also playing in the capital and fought from a goal down to beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 to maintain their two-point lead at the top of LaLiga.

Alvaro Garcia Rivera struck early for the hosts before Artem Dovbyk and Savio completed the fightback for Girona, who won 11 of 13 league games this season and lost just once.

Real Sociedad won 3-1 at winless Almeria following stopped-time goals from Carlos Fernandez and Martin Zubimendi.

Grenada and Getafe drew 1-1, as did Osasuna and Las Palmas.

In France, Kylian Mbappe netted a hat-trick as Paris St Germain powered past Reims with a 3-0 win to move a point clear of Nice at the top of the table.

The clinical Mbappe, who took his Ligue 1 tally to 13 for the season, was too much of a handful for the Reims defence who could do little to prevent the France star from confirming all three points for the reigning champions.

Le Havre held Monaco to a 0-0 draw in the late kick-off.

In-form Juventus scored twice in the second half to beat Cagliari 2-1 and climb to the top of Serie A.

Goals from Gleison Bremer and Daniele Rugani earned a fifth successive win for Juve, who move a point clear of Inter Milan ahead of their game with Frosinone on Sunday.

AC Milan’s winless run was extended to four matches as they surrendered a 2-0 half-time lead to draw 2-2 at Lecce, Olivier Giroud being sent off late on for the Rossoneri having earlier given them the lead.

Also in Serie A on Saturday, Monza drew 1-1 with Torino.

Pep Guardiola has no issues selling players to rivals because Manchester City are not a “small club”.

The champions come up against two of their recent former players in Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling as they travel to Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday.

Palmer left City for Stamford Bridge in August having grown frustrated at a lack of game time under Guardiola, a year after Sterling also moved there for a fresh challenge.

Both went with the club’s blessing, as did Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko when they joined Arsenal – and fuelled a strong charge at City’s crown – last year.

Some managers might be uncomfortable with at sales that effectively strengthen clubs in direct competition, but Guardiola insists it has “never ever” bothered him.

The City boss said: “From my point of view, I give my opinion to the club but after that the club has to decide if the transfer is good for both sides and for the player.

“But never ever (has it been an issue). I think that means you are a small club. Big clubs make decisions for the benefit for all three parties: players, both clubs – and agents sometimes. Really, it’s not a problem.

“So if they want to go to Chelsea or (Manchester) United or, I don’t know, Liverpool or whatever, what is the problem? They are happy to be there, the club is happy for the transfer.

“Another player would come and we’d keep going: good spirit, good mood, and try to do it.”

City had high hopes for 21-year-old midfielder Palmer, who came through their youth system.

He was a member of the squad that won the treble last season and started the current campaign strongly with goals in the Community Shield and European Super Cup matches.

It looked like he could get more opportunities following the departure of Riyad Mahrez but he opted to move on regardless, joining Chelsea in a £42.5million deal.

So far he has impressed at the London club and Guardiola accepts his decision to move appears to have paid off.

He said: “They moved from here because they wanted to play and, if they play, the decision made has been good.

“So Raheem, since he left, plays always and Cole, since he left, is playing always. So they took good decisions.

“Cole accepted some process but after one or two years he said, ‘I don’t want to stay here because I’m not going to play’.

“I said, ‘But Riyad is leaving, you have a chance’. He said, ‘I’m not going to play here. I’m going to leave’.

“OK, leave. He got what he wanted. It’s good for him. He’s a huge talent. Otherwise he would not have been here.”

Mauricio Pochettino acknowledged it will be difficult for any club to win the Premier League title whilst Pep Guardiola remains in charge of Manchester City.

Chelsea face the champions at Stamford Bridge on Sunday seeking a fourth win in six games in the league, but go into the game 11 points behind Guardiola’s treble winners having finished a colossal 45 points back last season.

Despite spending over £1billion on signings during the 18 months that owner Todd Boehly has been at the helm, the club have slid away from the league’s summit in that time, dropping from third place at the end of the 2021-22 campaign to 12th last season.

Pochettino has consistently defended results and performances since he took over in July, emphasising that despite the huge outlay, the club has mostly invested in young, inexperienced players who will required time to mature.

Ahead of Sunday’s showdown in west London, he agreed that toppling City will be a significant challenge whilst Guardiola is still in his job.

“I think we are all trying to be close to their level,” said Pochettino. “That’s the idea, that’s the challenge. It’ll be tough of course. If he continues there, he has the experience and the capacity, and the knowledge. He’s a great coach. It’s going to be tough to beat Manchester City.

“But we need to believe. Football is about belief and to try to develop and to create some different strategies to try to be above them.”

Pochettino previously enjoyed success against Guardiola and City in eliminating them from the Champions League with Tottenham en route to the final in 2019.

They ultimately lost in the final to Liverpool in Madrid, with Pochettino leaving less than six months later having failed to win silverware, despite running Leicester close for the title in 2016.

“We were contenders in the Champions League, we beat (City) with Tottenham,” said Pochettino. “But our possibility to win the league was when we fought in 2016 with Leicester. We never went in a fight with City for the league.

“But we were contenders in the Champions League. It’s not easy.

“That’s why massive credit to Pep and the organisation. Of course, you can see. But different clubs, different people, different structures, for sure, they’re building something really special.

“It was tough for them to win their first Champions League (last season), but they were consistent; improving and improving and improving with the confidence in Pep’s project, backing Pep for seven years. Massive credit to them.”

Frosinone coach Eusebio Di Francesco feels his side will have to play beyond their limits when they face the “most complete” team Inter Milan at the San Siro on Sunday.

The Nerazzurri secured a place in the Champions League knockout stages with a 1-0 win away at RB Salzburg on Wednesday night, which was a fifth-straight victory through all competitions.

Simone Inzaghi’s side, though, were knocked off the top of Serie A after Juventus beat Cagliari on Saturday.

Frosinone, who were promoted to the top flight this season, got themselves back on track last weekend with victory over Empoli, having lost back-to-back league games.

Canaries coach Di Francesco, though, is all too aware of just what challenge awaits his side at the San Siro.

“I believe that in order to compete with Inter we will have to outdo ourselves,” Di Francesco said.

“Inter are the most complete team, they are difficult to face and a club who have given continuity to the work of their coach.

“He has many weapons at his disposal, they are so difficult to deal with from all points of view.

“But what is most scary about Inter is the awareness, the knowledge they have among themselves which makes them a tough team to beat.

“If so far we have put in 10 out of 10, now to be able to compete with this Inter we will have to put in, I won’t say double, but come close.

“We must go and play this match with the same enthusiasm we have had so far.”

Despite the challenges ahead, Di Francesco wants his side to stay true to the values which have helped push them towards the top half of the table.

“In terms of the characteristics of the players who will be involved, the right solutions must be chosen, but we must not lose our identity and our principles of play,” said Di Francesco, who took over the newly-promoted side in the summer following the departure of Fabio Grosso.

“We must rely on the fact of enthusiasm, of the great desire to go and play the match.”

The Frosinone coach told a press conference: “I don’t share the concept that it’s not possible to face Inter with a smile and try to have fun – factors that will have to accompany us until the end of the championship this season.”

Di Francesco feels his players must focus on their collective goal, rather than get swept up in the occasion.

“I tried to tell my boys that when you enter the pitch in any stadium the strength lies in putting two plugs in your ears and to just focus on your team’s goal,” he said.

“That is what I did this week too, I didn’t give much weight to the match itself.

“I made it clear that we will have a strong team to fight against, however that doesn’t mean just standing behind them, but we must also be trying to fight back.”

Inter coach Inzaghi did not hold a media conference ahead of Sunday’s Serie A fixture.

Inzaghi is expected to recall Nicolo Barella after the midfielder did not feature in the Champions League.

Nerazzurri captain Lautaro Martinez started on the bench in Salzburg before coming on during the second half and scoring the late penalty which secured a 1-0 win.

Kieran Trippier confronted angry Newcastle fans following their 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth.

The injury-hit Magpies were downed by Dominic Solanke’s second-half double on the south coast.

As the players went to applaud the travelling fans after the final whistle, England full-back Trippier was filmed on social media responding to a supporter by saying: “Are the lads not giving everything? How many injuries have we got?”

Afterwards, Trippier played down the incident. He told Sky Sports: “The fans are emotional, they have travelled a long way.

“I had a chat with one of them, saying we are giving everything and there’s no need to panic.

“We got beat and we apologise for that result, but the lads are giving everything.”

Manager Eddie Howe admitted he understood the fans’ frustrations. “Kieran is fine. Emotions run high,” he said.

“We all feel a bit emotional after that from our perspective. We value all our away support, we value them greatly. We thank them for their support.”

It was a nightmare return to Bournemouth for Howe, who saw his side’s seven-match unbeaten Premier League run end and their injury crisis deepen.

The Magpies were already missing 11 players through injury and suspension after Callum Wilson injured a hamstring in the midweek defeat at Borussia Dortmund. Howe revealed Wilson will withdraw from the England squad and faces a spell on the sidelines.

They then lost Miguel Almiron to another hamstring problem midway through the first half.

The long casualty list meant a first Premier League start for 17-year-old Lewis Miley in central midfield.

Such are Newcastle’s lack of options they ended the match with Ben Parkinson, an 18-year-old who had never previously made a first-team appearance, playing alone in attack.

“It was a game where we couldn’t be where we needed to be for it and it was a tough watch. We were unrecognisable today,” added Howe, who was the Cherries manager the last time they beat Newcastle in 2017.

“It was a real off day. There are reasons, but I don’t want to sit here and make excuses. I want to support the players.”

The only surprise was that it took dominant Bournemouth an hour before they made the breakthrough.

Joe Willock challenged Antoine Semenyo, the ball rolled off him into the path of Solanke who raced into the area and lashed his shot inside Nick Pope’s near post.

Bournemouth doubled the lead from a corner, Solanke flicking the rebound home with his heel after Luis Sinisterra’s header hit a post.

It secured only a second win of the season for Bournemouth and lifted them out of the bottom three.

Boss Andoni Iraola said: “I think we really deserved this win. We played well and had good chances. Luckily we finished the job in the second half.

“Dom has been very good for us. On the ball and off the ball, he helps his team-mates. He missed chances in the first half, but cleared his mind and continued playing the same way.”