Eddie Howe - players.bio

Solanke double fires Bournemouth to upset win over Newcastle

BOURNEMOUTH, England :Two second-half strikes by forward Dominic Solanke gave Bournemouth a 2-0 home win over a depleted Newcastle United on Saturday which lifted the Cherries to 17th place in the Premier League table, three points clear of the relegation zone.

Kane scores brace as Bayern go top, Dortmund lose at Stuttgart

BERLIN: Harry Kane scored two first-half goals as Bayern Munich beat promoted Heidenheim 4-2 on Saturday, sending the Bavarians to the top of the table. Heidenheim replied with two goals in three second-half minutes to equalize and Bayern needed late goals from Raphael Guerreiro and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to secure victory. Bayern finish Saturday atop the table but Bayer Leverkusen — who have won 15 and drawn one of their 16 matches in all competitions this season — can return to the top with a win on Sunday over Union Berlin. “It was a changing match,” said Thomas Mueller.

Lindelof rides to Man Utd’s rescue to beat Luton

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Victor Lindelof was Manchester United’s unlikely hero as they moved into the Premier League’s top six with a 1-0 win over Luton on Saturday. The Swedish defender scored his first goal for nearly three years by smashing in from close range after Luton failed to clear a corner. United boss Erik ten Hag desperately needed a response after his side slumped to a ninth defeat in 17 games this season by losing 4-3 to FC Copenhagen on Wednesday. The English giants may be at risk of an early exit from the Champions League, but they have now won four of their last five in the Premier League. All of those victories have been by a single goal and the manner of victory was again far from convincing for United in the Hatters’ first trip to Old Trafford since 1991. Rasmus Hojlund scored twice on his return to Denmark in midweek to take his tally to five goals in four Champions League games. However, Hojlund is still yet to net in the Premier League. The £64 million ($78 million) signing missed two big chances to break his duck. Hojlund’s best piece of play then teed up Alejandro Garnacho, who failed to beat Thomas Kaminski when clean through on goal. United had to wait until just before the hour mark to make the breakthrough. Marcus Rashford’s low cross was deflected back into the path of Lindelof, who made no mistake from 10 yards out. Rashford was among those guilty of wasting opportunities to add to United’s lead. But United were rarely troubled defensively as they registered a first Premier League clean sheet at Old Trafford since the opening weekend of the season. Victory takes United within six points of league leaders Manchester City. Luton remain outside the relegation zone only on goal difference.

Barca are in a dip, not a crisis: coach Xavi

BARCELONA: Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez insisted Saturday his club were in a dip but not falling into crisis and said president Joan Laporta had full confidence in his project. The Spanish champions have played poorly in recent weeks and fell to an embarrassing 1-0 defeat by Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday in Hamburg. Despite the loss, Barcelona are still joint group leaders and expected to qualify for the knock-out phases, and are third in La Liga. The Catalans lost at home to Real Madrid in the Clasico on October 28 and scraped a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad last weekend, despite a drab performance. “I don’t think this is (my worst moment) at all, my worst moment as a coach came last year,” Xavi told a news conference, referring to his team’s Champions League group stage elimination. “I have lived through terrible crises here, this doesn’t go that far, it’s a dip ... we haven’t played well, we have to recover our game. “Getting that back is key — as a coach, I feel good, this is nothing to do with the situation we had last year.” Spanish media singled out Xavi for criticism after the Shakhtar loss, but the coach said Laporta was ‘calm’. “After each game we speak with the president,” explained Xavi. “We are very united, he’s a very positive person, more than me even, and he is very calm.