Southampton continued their push for European football next season with a comfortable 3-1 victory over relegation battlers Newcastle United at St. Mary’s Stadium.
The day started disastrously for Rafa Benitez’ side, when Shane Long combined with Graziano Pelle before going on a slalom run through the entire Toon defence and coolly finishing past goalkeeper Karl Darlow with barely four minutes played.
Newcastle spent the entire first-half on the back foot and conceded again seven minutes before the break. With the visitors committing numbers forward, Southampton broke quickly through Sadio Mane. The Senegalese international found Dusan Tadic in space on the left before he picked out Long, whose heavy touch fell kindly for Pelle to find the bottom corner with a curling finish.
Despite a sluggish start to the second-half, the home side extended their lead when Newcastle switched off from a corner. The short ball was played to Mane, who found Jose Fonte in the centre of the penalty area. The captain’s goalbound shot was blocked into the path of Victor Wanyama, who finished with aplomb to put the game beyond doubt before the hour mark.
The Geordies finally managed a meaningful effort on goal shortly afterwards when winger Andros Townsend stung the palms of Fraser Forster from distance. Southampton did not heed the warning and in the 65th minute, the travelling support finally had something to cheer about. Townsend cut in from the right onto his left-foot, before unleashing a blistering long range strike into Forster’s top corner.
That was as good as it got for Newcastle though, as Southampton cruised to an easy victory to push the North-East side closer to the Premier League trapdoor.
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Newcastle on the brink
By conceding the first goal of the game for the 20th time this season from 32 outings, Newcastle left themselves a mountain to climb yet again, this time as early as the fourth minute.
The first goal in a football game goes a long way to getting a result, and such a poor statistic is a big reason why the Geordies find themselves second from bottom, six points from safety with six matches remaining.
For a side as poor as Newcastle, they cannot afford to continue to give opponents a head start every week.
Doing the basics wrong
In a league of such fine margins, doing the simple things right goes a long way to winning a football match. Unfortunately for Newcastle, they are doing little right at the moment. Things such as poor back-passes, lapses of concentration, giving away cheap fouls in the defensive-third and fragility at set pieces heap unnecessary pressure onto the defence. In turn, these result in turnovers, a loss of defensive shape and ultimately, multiple goals conceded.
Wasteful Saints
Southampton never really got out of second gear, and at times it resembled a training run for Ronald Koeman’s side. The 3-1 scoreline highly flattered an appalling Newcastle, who could have suffered a far heavier defeat if not for some questionable decisions from the Saints in the front-third. Long, Mane, Pelle and Tadic were all guilty of poor finishing, or being too selfish, when a team-mate was in a far better position to score.
At times, Southampton even looked complacent and sloppy, which allowed the visitors to make a better showing in the second-half. To be beaten 3-1 by a side which barely raised a sweat and looked like they were waiting for the full time whistle after skipping out to a three-goal lead, shows just how dire it is for Rafa Benitez and Newcastle United. On the flip side, if Southampton can find their shooting boots, playing in Europe next season could well be on the cards. Despite not being at their best in the front third, a performance like this is ominous viewing for upcoming opponents Everton and Aston Villa.
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