Justin Kluivert lauded as he eclipses famous father Patrick at Newcastle
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola saluted match-winner Justin Kluivert after watching him get one over his famous father in a stunning 4-1 Premier League win at Newcastle.
The 25-year-old midfielder, the son of former Ajax and Barcelona striker Patrick, scored a hat-trick as the Cherries ended the Magpies’ nine-game winning run in emphatic style.
In the process, he trebled his father’s Premier League goals return at St James’ Park during his single season at Newcastle.
Iraola said with a smile: “I didn’t know the stat. I played against his father, he has scored against me. He was a hell of a player, a top player and he uses this advantage.
“Patrick has been his coach, so he has this advantage. For sure, he gives very good advice and he has this offensive power, the threat.
“But I think he has improved these last two seasons the defensive work, the understanding of our game and we are very happy with him.”
Kluivert fired the visitors into a sixth-minute lead and after Bruno Guimaraes had levelled, restored their advantage before half-time.
Eddie Howe’s men were a shadow of the side which had taken on and beaten all-comers in recent weeks as the Cherries’ aggressive approach, combined with pace and invention, saw them run away with the game in stoppage time as Kluivert struck for a third time before defender Milos Kerkez cemented the win.
Iraola said: “My first feeling is I’m very proud of my players because the performance to day has been very, very good. I think we fully deserved to win today, very complete all the minutes of the game.
“I had a slight doubt with the last minutes because you never know in a high-level game like this how we are going to finish, but we finished really strong also and it has been a very complete game.”
A chastened Howe admitted his team, which would have gone third with a club record 10th victory, had been way below its best, a result not only of Bournemouth’s excellence, but fatigue.
Howe said: “Firstly I have to congratulate our opponent. I thought Bournemouth were better than us today. I thought they played very well and never allowed us to find our rhythm in the game.
“I was disappointed with our performance. That is not the level that we’ve played at for the last group of games. I thought we looked devoid of energy today, a real problem athletically, I thought.
“You could see we were fatigued and we never really recovered from a poor start to the game, and ultimately there’s a lot to reflect on for me.
“I don’t think any of our game survived, really. I thought we were off in every department and when you perform like that, invariably you’re not going to get anything from the game.”
