25 January 2025
Southampton 1 Newcastle 3
Bottom of the table Southampton welcomed Newcastle to St Mary’s looking to cause an upset against the in-form Magpies. Die-hard Saints’ fans will still be clinging onto the hope they can get themselves out of the predicament they find themselves in, but even at this stage, it is hard to see them taking the points needed to get out of the bottom three.
For The Magpies, the focus is more on Champions League qualification. The heavy defeat they suffered at home against Bournemouth had cost them dearly. They had dropped below both Chelsea and Man City as a result. Eddie Howe’s side needed to get back to winning ways if they were to have any hope of reaching Europe’s elite competition once again.
Bree and Walker-Peters were combining well and causing all sorts of problems for Hall out wide. They created space to swing a cross into the box which was headed home by Bednarek to give the hosts the lead. It has been a rare feeling for the Saints’ fans to have something to cheer at St Mary’s this season but the defender’s bullet header did just that.
Newcastle were just static in the middle and nobody was marking the Southampton defender at all. It was this approach that saw them take a hiding from The Cherries last weekend. You may get away with this against some of the lesser teams in the Premier League but most sides will punish you for allowing players so much time and space in the box.
The Magpies came forward and Guimaraes fed it into Isak in the box. He was chopped down by Aribo but the referee waved away penalty claims and awarded a corner. Fortunately VAR were not so blind to the foul and sent the referee to the monitor allowing him to change his own decision. This whole charade to make the officials look competent is just pure theatre.
Isak stepped up to take it and rolled it into the bottom corner, with the keeper heading in the opposite direction. It meant that the Swede had set a new club record as he had now scored in five successive away game for The Magpies, something nobody had ever done before in a Newcastle shirt. The striker is showing some form this season.
Moments later he played the ball into Guimaraes who flicked it back into his path. His thunderous shot was beaten out of the goal by McCarthy to keep the scores level. It did not last long however, Murphy played a defence-splitting pass to Isak, who calmly slotted it past The Saints’ keeper to turn this game on its head in a matter of three minutes.
He should have scored his hat-trick before the interval when he waltzed through the Southampton defence once again. This time, from a tight angle, his shot was saved by the legs of McCarthy. The hosts did not even seem to be at the races by this stage. They needed the half-time whistle more than anyone, to regroup and change their approach.
Then, against the run of play, The Magpies showed their class. The ball was played into Isak on the halfway line, who chested it into the path of Gordon. He cushioned a volley into space for Tonali to run onto. Charging towards goal, the Italian only had the keeper to beat. He slotted it past McCarthy to give the visitors some breathing space.
Murphy almost added the icing to the cake when he cut inside from the right wing. He looked to bend one in the far corner but his effort struck the outside of the post and went wide. Moments later Joelinton had a sight of goal but his shot, despite beating McCarthy, was deflected off the line for a corner. The midfielder could not believe it had not gone in.
Some poor defending from The Magpies saw Fernandes run clean through on goal. He showed composure as he slotted past Dubravka to give The Saints a lifeline in the game. Sadly for the hosts, a subsequent VAR review was to deny them. It would have made for an interesting end to the game and asked serious questions of Howe’s side.
The Magpies got a much-needed three points to keep pace with the sides above them. It will be a tough ask to try and qualify for Champions League football due to Nottingham Forest’s unexpected league position. Newcastle will be hoping this is a temporary blip and that they will drop off in the second half of the season but it has not looked likely up until this point.
One thing that is for sure for Eddie Howe’s side, if they want to close the gap between themselves and the sides above them, they are going to have to start beating them. The chances of securing a top four spot from just notching wins against expected teams rarely pans out that way. As for Southampton, another game passes with no points picked up, making their plight seem more ominous.
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