Bournemouth 0-1 Newcastle United

Ayoze Perez's first-half goal earned Newcastle a fortunate first Premier League away win of the season as they leapfrogged Bournemouth in the table.

The result was very harsh on a dominant Bournemouth, who were denied by a string of brilliant saves from Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot.

The Cherries, six league games without a win, slip into the bottom three.

Eddie Howe's side, promoted to the top tier from the Championship last season, could have done little more to win in the game. Newcastle little less.

But the hosts were let down by poor finishing and a man-of-the-match display by Elliot as they chalked up 20 efforts on goal to Newcastle's two.

Relive Newcastle's fortunate win

Follow all Saturday's action and reaction from the later games

Newcastle complete smash and grab

Rarely can Newcastle have come away with a victory after threatening the opposition's goal on so few occasions.

Aside from Perez's crucial strike, Fabricio Coloccini's second-half header was the Magpies' only other effort on goal, and they spent most of the game defending as Bournemouth poured forward from the flanks.

But having failed to score in a goalless draw against Stoke last weekend where Potters goalkeeper Jack Butland was equally brilliant, Newcastle boss Steve McClaren may feel that his side warranted some fortune.

Republic of Ireland international Elliot was an injury doubt for the game, yet played a telling part in what could be a critical win, their first in 13 away league games.

Harsh lesson for Howe's side

Bournemouth's bright beginning to the season has tailed off in recent weeks after crucial injuries to key players such as Callum Wilson, Tommy Elphick and Max Gradel.

Several pundits have suggested that they should alter their style but another energetic performance from his team ensured that at no point did Newcastle have any sort of control.

Midfielder Harry Arter, Gosling and Ritchie were indefatigable as the Cherries out-ran and out-passed their opponents. And the attacking threat was relentless as they peppered Newcastle's goal from both flanks, chalking up 16 corners to Newcastle's none.

Joshua King was twice denied by Elliot, also stopping Ritchie's diving header. But his effort to deny Gosling was perhaps his finest moment when he threw himself to his right to prevent the midfielder scoring against his former club from close range.

After putting so much energy into the performance, it was no wonder that Bournemouth eventually tired. At the end, some of their players looked mentally and physically worn out, but now they must gather themselves for the international break realising that, at least in terms of performance, they are on the right track.

On the basis of this game, only their finishing can be improved upon.

Man of the match - Rob Elliot

Manager reaction

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe: "It was very cruel for us today, we were excellent and controlled the game from start to finish. The goal was against the run of play and the frustrating thing for us was we kept knocking on the door and we felt it would come but it just wasn't meant to be.

"I can't fault the quality of the performance, the only missing thing was the goals on top of it. The last part of the game we lost belief, but apart from that I'm very pleased with the players. There's a lot of positives in the game, we can't dwell on the defeat.

"My job is always important to pick the players up and keep believing. We've been through spells like this before. This is our biggest challenge, we need to make sure we don't lose the faith in what we're doing."

Newcastle boss Steve McClaren on Rob Elliot: "Rob was a big doubt and we needed him today. He's been injured and not trained, and I like him. He's a talker and experienced.

"We've played better than that, you can't explain football sometimes. We've played far better, created chances and been denied by goalkeepers but this week we had one bit of quality for the goal and the rest of the time we were defending for our lives and relied on our goalkeeper.

"Bournemouth will be disappointed with their finishing but we got the luck today and we had a great defensive performance to get a clean sheet which is what you need sometimes."

Stats you need to know

• Bournemouth have only kept one clean sheet in their 12 Premier League games this season.
• Georginio Wijnaldum has been directly involved in eight of Newcastle's 13 goals this season in the Premier League.
• Bournemouth's 20 shots were their most in a Premier League game this season.
• Their 67.53% possession figure in the defeat was also their highest figure in a Premier League game this season.
• The Cherries out-ran Newcastle by 119 km to 114 km, and have done so in each of their league games this term.

What next?

After the international break, Bournemouth travel to Swansea before hosting Everton the following Saturday. Newcastle are at home to Leicester before a trip to Crystal Palace.