St James’ Park hosted a key match for Newcastle and Southampton that resulted in a triumph for the ‘magpies’ that allows them to accumulate an important cushion of points with respect to the relegation places. On the other hand, the ‘saints’, who occupy 12th place in the table, continue their free fall after conceding their fifth consecutive defeat.
Willock overtakes Newcastle on his debut
Newcastle, who had just won in just one of the previous eleven games, were always ahead on the scoreboard and advanced 2-0 in the first half. Joe Willock, on loan from Arsenal on Monday on the last day of the winter market, took just 16 minutes to score on his debut after an assist from Allan Saint-Maximin (26 ‘).
The French winger also served Paraguayan Miguel Almirón at 2-0, whose shot, deflected by defender Jan Bednarek, overtook goalkeeper Alex McCarthy (26 ‘).
Minamino cuts distances in its premiere
The ghosts appeared to Southampton after the historic 9-0 that they conceded on Tuesday at Old Trafford against Manchester United, but reacted and closed the gap through another rookie, the Japanese Takumi Minamino, on loan from Liverpool also on Monday, to Ryan Bertrand’s pass at half an hour of play.
Roja a Hendrick
In the discount of the first part Almirón placed the 3-1 with the second goal of his private account. Southampton returned to get into the game with both James Ward-Prowse (48 ‘) and, although Newcastle was left behind shortly after when Jeff Hendrick saw the second yellow (50’), they resisted the visitor harassment and ended up mooring three very valuable points.