Bournemouth held to goalless draw by Palace

Bournemouth wasted a series of opportunities as they drew 0-0 at home to Crystal Palace and slipped to sixth in the Premier League in a lacklustre contest on Thursday.

Only four of Bournemouth's 18 shots were on target as they failed to score for the first time in 11 matches, with Newcastle United overtaking them in the standings thanks to a superior goal difference following a 3-0 home win over Aston Villa.

Palace, unbeaten in their last five away league games, moved a provisional five points clear of the relegation zone.

"To be honest, it was a rubbish game. Boring for the neutral," Palace defender Marc Guehi told Amazon Prime. "I was just bored because of the game... it's a point, so we move on.”

Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta shot wide early on, with Bournemouth's best chance coming when Dango Ouattara's blocked header from a corner fell to Antoine Semenyo whose effort was cleared off the line by Ismaila Sarr in the 23rd minute.

Sarr found the net four minutes later but the offside flag was up.

The second half started on a faster note as Bournemouth's Kepa Arrizabalaga dived to his right to keep out Eberechi Eze's long-range effort.

Palace's Dean Henderson pulled off a double save in the next minute, parrying away Semenyo's shot from the left and keeping out Justin Kluivert's follow-up with his left hand.

Ouattara headed wide in the 73rd minute and Evanilson missed from inside the box soon after as Bournemouth's attackers struggled to find the target.

Defender Dean Huijsen could have found a late winner for Bournemouth but failed to connect with Philip Billing's pass.

"I think we could have done a bit more ... it's a shame we couldn't get the three points," Huijsen said.

Palace, 16th in the table with 17 points from 18 matches, host bottom side Southampton on Sunday when Bournemouth, who have 29 and are four points off the top four, visit Fulham.