Bournemouth 4-0 Huddersfield: Callum Wilson's hat-trick and Harry Arter's strike gives hosts victory

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After two years of debilitating hurt, Callum Wilson has slowly dragged himself from the floor via two knackered knees and completed his comeback with a stunning hat-trick against Huddersfield Town.

They were his first Premier League goals in almost a year and his second top-flight treble, the last coming against West Ham in August 2015 when he exploded on to the scene following Bournemouth's promotion.

Two separate knee ligament injuries have prevented Wilson from kicking on when five goals in his first six games back then had former England manager Roy Hodgson considering him for the national team. The 25-year-old has had a painful struggle back, but could he reach those heights again?

Callum Wilson (centre) rose the highest to head Bournemouth in front against Hudderfield Town on Saturday afternoon

Despite the attention of five defenders around him, Wilson managed to escape all of their attentions to score

The striker wheels away in celebration after putting the Cherries 1-0 ahead at the Vitality Stadium

Bournemouth's Wilson was duly congratulated by his team-mates after giving them the lead on the south coast

MATCH FACTS, RATINGS, TABLE AND MATCH ZONE

Bournemouth (4-4-1-1): Begovic 6.5; Francis 4.5, S Cook 7.5, Ake 8, Daniels 7; Ibe 6.5 (A Smith 42 6), Surman 7.5, Arter 7.5 (L Cook 88), Pugh 6.5; King 6.5 (Gosling 86); Wilson 8.5.

Subs not used: Boruc, Afobe, Fraser, Mousset.

Goals: Wilson (26, 31 and 84), Arter (70)

Booked: Pugh, Arter, Cook

Red Card: Francis (two yellows)

Manager: Eddie Howe 8 

Huddersfield (4-2-3-1): Lossl 5.5; Hadergjonaj 5.5, Jorgensen 5.5, Cranie 5.5 (Sabiri 61 6), Malone 5; Williams 6 (Mounie 46 6), Mooy 6; Kachunga 6 (Quaner 61 6), Ince 6, Van La Parra 6.5; Depoitre 6.

Subs not used: Smith, Whitehead, Coleman, Lowe.

Booked: Hadergjonaj

Manager: David Wagner 4.5 

Referee: Lee Probert 5.5 

Attendance: 10,879

MOTM: Wilson

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'I've been there myself in the respect you get a serious injury; it's a very lonely place, hard place to come back from,' Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe, whose own playing career was ruined by injury, said. 'Especially for Callum he'd just scored a hat-trick in his first taste of Premier League football. It seemed like he had the world at his feet and it changed in an instant.'

There was no Jermaine Defoe on Saturday, a surprise omission from Howe's squad after Bournemouth's manager had tipped the England striker for a return to Gareth Southgate's squad for next summer's World Cup the day before the game. 'It's a calf injury,' Howe said. 'He should be back next week.'

Instead they needed to find a cutting edge from elsewhere and Wilson provided it, scoring league goals for the first time since a January 3 draw against Arsenal here.

'Cruciate injuries retired you back in the day,' Howe added. 'Now with modern science and rehabilitation techniques it's not so serious. 

Callum looked so good in training recently; no limp, running really smooth and his pace was there. For Callum that's everything. He's always lived off being on the last shoulder.'

Before Wilson scored twice in five minutes in a flurry of chances, however, Huddersfield were the dominant side for the first 25 minutes. 

Rajiv Van La Parra tested Asmir Begovic with a first-time shot from the edge of the area and Scott Malone nutmegged Steve Cook but was too nonchalant with the finish and toe-poked past Begovic but around the far post.

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe (right) embraces Huddersfield counterpart David Wagner before kick-off

Wilson was jumping for joy on 31 minutes when he doubled Bournemouth's lead against their Premier League counterparts

The 25-year-old swept home and his side's second goal of the match following a free-kick awarded to Howe's men

The Cherries' No 13 blew a kiss after grabbing his second goal of the game against the Terriers

However, the hosts' brilliant first half took a turn for the worse when captain Simon Francis was shown a second yellow card

Francis trudges off the pitch as he left his side with the prospect of playing the second half with 10 men

Harry Arter added a third for Bournemouth with 20 minutes to go in the second half to seal all three points

Then the visitors crumbled defensively. Wilson was hustling Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl at a corner until he was shepherded away by Aaron Mooy, who then lost his man when Jordon Ibe sent in an in-swinger from the left, leaving the striker to nod in from close. Who needs knees when you've got a solid head?

The defending was even worse for the second — another set piece. From a free kick out on the left, Andrew Surman curled the ball in behind the Huddersfield back line, who were so slow to react they could only watch on as Wilson side-footed in, leaving Lossl no chance again.

Huddersfield manager David Wagner was furious afterwards, claiming Charlie Daniels fouled Florent Hadergjonaj before the corner and that Wilson was offside for the second. 

The fan favourite roars with delight after scoring the hosts' third of the afternoon against the Premier League new boys

Wilson's afternoon was completed with just minutes remaining when he scored his hat-trick to make it 4-0 to Bournemouth

The striker was beaming at full-time as he left the Vitality Stadium with the match ball after the impressive victory

'Two refereeing decisions against us were wrong,' Wagner said. 'The corner it was a clearly a harsh tackle against us, maybe more than a yellow. The second was one yard offside. This was the referee's job to see this. It wasn't difficult to see as it was a set play. Unfortunately from my view it was not correct. These two goals changed the game completely.'

If Bournemouth were slow out of the blocks they were finishing the half at full tilt until Simon Francis was sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card in 10 minutes. It handed Huddersfield a chance in a game that was slipping away from them, but while they probed with the same intensity as the start of the match when the game reconvened an error handed Bournemouth their third goal.

A rare second-half Bournemouth attack broke down in the 70th minute but Malone tried to dribble out from the back and was robbed by Harry Arter, who feinted past Mooy and finished into the bottom right corner. 

Wilson scored through a crowd of bodies late on for this third, becoming the first Englishman to net a treble this season. As if Southgate didn't have enough to consider already.