Kluivert hat-trick halts Newcastle's streak
Justin Kluivert scored a hat-trick as Bournemouth brought Newcastle United's nine-match winning streak to a halt with a 4-1 victory at St James' Park.
The Cherries midfielder produced a man-of-the-match display against the club where his father Patrick played during the 2004-2005 season.
Kluivert opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a neat first-time finish, and restored the visitors' lead just before half-time after Bruno Guimaraes headed in Newcastle's equaliser.
The Netherlands international hammered in a third with a brilliant long-range strike in stoppage-time, while Milos Kerkez rounded off a swift counter to add a fourth before the end.
That extended Bournemouth's unbeaten streak to 10 league games, as it won at St James' Park for the first time in five attempts.
Andoni Iraola's side climb to sixth place in the Premier League table and within a point of the Magpies, which remain fourth after missing the chance to leapfrog third-place Nottingham Forest.
Kluivert has scored in three consecutive away league games for the first time, while only Mohamed Salah (11) has scored more Premier League goals away from home this season than the Cherries forward (nine).
He is also just the seventh player to score multiple hat-tricks (two) away from home in a single Premier League term, and the first since Raheem Sterling in 2019-2020 (also two).
"This feels lovely. We know how tough it is to play here, and the long run that they had, it’s a great team," Kluivert said.
"But to come here with the injuries that we have, I think we have 12 first-team players, to come here and dominate like this ... hats off to the team, really.
"I just want to help my team out to win games, to be important for the club. Happy with the ball and the win, for sure. Our run is also beautiful. We’re here to make an impression."
Bournemouth gas scored two or more goals in seven consecutive away league games in a single season for the first time in its history.
But Antoine Semenyo, who notched the assist for Kluivert's first goal, insisted that the Cherries are not putting pressure on themselves in their push for European football.
"Our mindset is just so strong, we are mentally tough. We go through all these tough moments with injuries, but we know collectively we can do it and nobody can tell us differently," Semenyo said.
"We are taking it game by game and not putting any pressure on ourselves."