EDDIE HOWE’S family film night will be much more enjoyable this week.
The Toon boss spent last Saturday night watching back their Bournemouth horror show.
But everyone will be happy to gather round and watch this clinical south coast display which sent the Magpies back into the top four and had Alexander Isak cast as the leading man.
Newcastle’s Swedish wonder won a penalty and scored twice to get the visitors ahead after Jan Bednarek’s shock Saints opener.
Sandro Tonali, scoring his first Premier League goal since his 10-month gambling ban, rounded off the afternoon.
Howe made just one change from last weekend’s 4-1 defeat, with Fabian Schar coming in for Sven Botman.
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Southampton have shown flashes of life in recent defeats to Manchester United and Nottingham Forest.
But here they were without the two standout players from those games, Tyler Dibling and Kamaldeen Sulemana – both injured along with Aaron Ramsdale.
Howe was frustrated by his side’s sluggish start in their humbling by Bournemouth last week and they were stunned after just 10 minutes here.
Kyle Walker-Peters, hardly a bruiser, shoved the towering Dan Burn off the ball on the Toon byline.
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He laid back to James Bree, who was given time to pick out a fine ball for the unmarked Bednarek to head in his second goal in as many games.
Saints have struggled desperately for consistency across 90 minutes, let alone a run of games.
They looked to keep the pressure on Newcastle, with Toon fan Adam Armstrong sending a shot at Martin Dubravka.
If Southampton’s opener was a surprise, their collapse was entirely predictable.
A defensive cock-up is never far away in these parts and Joe Aribo delivered on 22 minutes – though Newcastle needed VAR to confirm it.
Referee Sam Barrott had initially pointed for a corner after Aribo sent Isak tumbling in the box, but replays showed the Saints midfielder never got a touch on the ball.
And for the fifth straight game on the road Isak found the back of the net, sending Alex McCarthy the wrong way from the spot.
Isak’s goalscoring run of eight consecutive games may have been stopped by the Cherries, but that blank clearly had not dented his confidence.
The super Swede came close to a second three minutes after his penalty, seeing a powerful strike palmed away after he latched onto Bruno Guimaraes’ back-heel.
There was no such disappointment just 60 seconds later.
Jacob Murphy clipped the ball past Aribo in midfield and fizzed a perfect ball into the path of Isak, who cushioned with his left and rolled an ice-cool finish in with his right.
With so many clubs gagging to land a striker this month, Newcastle can demand the earth for their marksman should anyone come calling.
But if he helps them back into the Champions League, there will be confidence of keeping him on Tyneside for the foreseeable future.
Southampton had not been as hopeless as they have looked at times in this doomed season.
Dubravka had to save twice from Taylor Harwood-Bellis, first tipping an acrobatic effort over the bar before holding onto his header from the resulting corner.
But despite their encouraging spells – this squad is simply not good enough for the Premier League.
Just five minutes into the second half the Saints left a gap so wide at the back that the tractors which had been protesting outside before kick-off would have found their way through.
But it was Tonali who exploited the space, showing aggression in the middle before charging forwards to pick up Anthony Gordon’s ball and slotting past McCarthy.
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It could have been a much more depressing afternoon for the Saints had McCarthy not tipped Murphy’s strike onto the post, while Bednarek also blocked on the line from Joelinton.
Matheus Fernandes tested Dubravka from the edge of the box and with five minutes to go looked to have made it a nervy finish, but his goal was ruled out for offside.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
