Shropshire Star

Callum Wilson nets treble as 10-man Bournemouth crush Huddersfield

The Terriers have failed to score on the road in five league games

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Hat-trick hero Callum Wilson scored his first Premier League goals since his injury nightmare as 10-man Bournemouth inflicted more away-day misery on Huddersfield.

The striker, who was sidelined for nine months after suffering a second serious knee ligament problem in January, set the Cherries on course to a 4-0 success with a first-half double before claiming his third late on after Harry Arter had added another.

Huddersfield, who have now failed to score on the road in five league games, were given some hope when Cherries captain Simon Francis was sent off just before half-time with the score at 2-0 but the hosts emphatically registered a third win in four league games.

Home boss Eddie Howe opted to stick with the same starting XI which triumphed at Newcastle last time out, while Huddersfield head coach David Wagner made two enforced alterations from the team which saw off West Brom before the international break.

Terriers defender Martin Cranie was handed his first Premier League start since playing for Portsmouth against Manchester United in August 2007 in place of the suspended Christopher Schindler, and Danny Williams was brought into the midfield as Jonathan Hogg did not travel due to the birth of his son on Friday evening.

It was the visitors who began in the ascendancy, enjoying the greater share of possession and carving out a couple of inviting opportunities.

Dutch winger Rajiv van La Parra was the first to go close when his side-foot shot from the edge of the box was palmed away by Cherries goalkeeper Asmir Begovic before marauding left wing-back Scott Malone burst in the box past Steve Cook and poked narrowly wide of the right post.

Huddersfield’s last victory at Bournemouth came in a League One meeting in August 2007 and their poor record at the Vitality Stadium looked set to continue following Wilson’s quick-fire, albeit contentious, brace.

For the first, Cherries left-back Charlie Daniels escaped punishment for a late tackle which left Florent Hadergjonaj crumpled in a heap near the halfway line and moments later Wilson was on hand to head in Jordon Ibe’s left-wing corner from close range with 26 minutes played.

Set-pieces were proving a problem for the Terriers and they fell further behind five minutes later when Wilson, who may have been marginally offside, emphatically turned in Andrew Surman’s low, left-wing free-kick.

Midfielder Surman then went close to adding a third when his 20-yard shot was tipped over by Terriers keeper Jonas Lossl.

Bournemouth’s Simon Francis is shown the red card
Bournemouth’s Simon Francis is shown the red card (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Wilson then escaped a card early in the second period when he caught Town captain Aaron Mooy in the face with a raised arm.

Unsurprisingly, given their numerical advantage, the away side had all of the play in the second period but, after failing to create anything of note, they fell further behind in the 70th minute following a mistake by Malone.

The defender tried to dribble the ball out from the back before being dispossessed by Republic of Ireland midfielder Arter who took his time, cut inside and powerfully found the bottom-right corner.

And man of the match Wilson had the final say as he drilled home six minutes from time to complete his treble following Josh King’s pull-back.

What they said

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe: “Callum has worked incredibly hard on his body to make sure he comes back in the shape that he has so full credit to him. The quality of his finishes for the goals was really, really high so it’s been a really good night for him.”

Huddersfield head coach David Wagner: “When we speak about a 2-0 half-time result against us, (it is) after two referee’s decisions which are not correct. These two goals changed the game completely and then in the second half we have not created enough.”

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