Bournemouth's Arnaut Danjuma finally sees off battling Blackburn

Just as Bournemouth looked at risk of returning to the Championship with a bump, a moment of Premier League quality earned Jason Tindall victory in his first game since succeeding Eddie Howe. This was not the most resounding win but Arnaut Danjuma’s emphatic strike six minutes from time was deserving of winning an occasionally hairy contest.

It is fair to assume Danjuma, who spent most of last season injured following a £14m move from Club Brugge, did not dream of his first Bournemouth goal being in the Championship, let alone behind closed doors. But his star turn proved the difference in victory over a dogged Blackburn, who equalised twice, through Bradley Johnson and Adam Armstrong.

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The Dutchman enjoyed a promising pre-season and notched the winner here after haring down the left flank before smacking a right-footed effort into the far corner. “Arnie is a great lad, a great character, and we absolutely love him to bits,” said Tindall. “He has produced magic in every game that he has played for us so far [this season] and long may that continue. When you have a player of that quality, it is important to leave him on the pitch for as long as you can because you know, at any moment, give him the ball in the right areas and he is capable of doing what he did for the winning goal.”

For Bournemouth, this was a first taste of competitive action without Howe in the dugout for almost eight years and, after several high-profile departures that have helped recoup the club the best part of £80m, there were only five survivors from the team that started the final day of last season at Goodison Park in the starting lineup. Tindall handed Dominic Solanke the responsibility of leading the line following Callum Wilson’s exit, while the absent Joshua King is also set to depart before the transfer window closes.

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On the touchline stood the veteran Blackburn manager, Tony Mowbray, who has won promotion from this division before, and Tindall, who for 12 years shared an office with Howe. The new manager traded a tracksuit for a polo shirt and was flanked by his assistant, Stephen Purches, and first-team coach, Graeme Jones, the former Luton manager who was also a longstanding assistant, to Roberto Martínez.

Tindall said: “I experienced the mixed emotions standing by Ed’s side for so long, and you experience those as a manager, but the only difference is the buck lies on your shoulders. I enjoyed making those decisions.”

Jack Stacey’s thunderous strike gave Bournemouth early cause for optimism but Bradley Johnson pulled Blackburn level after Mark Travers filed an early contender for an end-of-season blooper showreel, allowing the midfielder’s speculative strike to squirm through his gloves and squeeze into the corner.

The hosts retook the lead when Solanke was given the freedom of Bournemouth, an accolade awarded to Howe after leading the club into the Premier League, before laying the ball on for Jefferson Lerma, who tucked beyond the debutant Thomas Kaminski in the Blackburn goal.

Armstrong poked in to level after swivelling away from Steve Cook but then Danjuma took things into his own hands to leave Mowbray miffed. “I saw him score a goal against Benfica like that in pre-season, stepping inside on to his right foot, that’s the disappointing thing,” he said. “There were plenty of positives for us against a team who are much fancied in this division, and rightly so. The winning goal, right into the top corner, shows the level of opponent we were up against, so there is no need to be negative.”