Southampton 2-2 Newcastle United: Three Key Players
By Jack Deery
Southampton faced a stubborn Newcastle side in their eighth game of the season, in a match that eventually ended 2-2 after a brace from Manolo Gabbiadini saved the home side.
The Saints went down after 20 minutes when Isaac Hayden saw his shot beat Fraser Forster from outside the area. The reds started the second half brightly, though, and just 4 minutes into it, Gabbiadini took the ball round Javier Manquillo and scored with a well taken finish.
However, just two minutes later, a howler from Forster gifted Ayoze Perez a chance to put the Toon army back ahead, which he did comfortably. But with 75 minutes on the clock, a good exchange between Sofiane Boufal and Shane Long saw the latter brought down inside the area. Gabbiadini stepped up and dispatched the penalty superbly into the top right.
In what could be seen as a disappointed result and performance, there are still a few positives for Mauricio Pellegrino to take. A few good individual performances will give the Argentinian some stability in what is now a huge game next weekend against West Brom.
But who were the key players for Southampton? Contributor Jack Deery picks out his best three from Sunday’s game.