Newcastle 3-1 Southampton: Impressive Perez hat-trick downs Saints

A poor first-half display saw Southampton fall to a 3-1 defeat to Newcastle on Saturday evening.

The hosts at St James’ Park were 2-0 up at half time after two strikes from forward Ayoze Perez.

Mario Lemina pulled a goal back for the Saints in the second-half but Perez completed his hat-trick to take Newcastle to 41 points.

Two forced changes were made by Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl ahead of the game as Jannik Vestergaard and Yan Valery missed out through injury and illness.

Jack Stephens and Oriol Romeu returned to the line-up but the team stayed in its usual 3-4-3 shape.

The first shot in anger of the evening came courtesy of Newcastle forward Miguel Almiron. He fired a fierce strike at goal from a narrow angle, but Angus Gunn dealt with it comfortably.

Saints grew into the game gradually though and some decent pressure would end with James Ward-Prowse’s low effort being well blocked by Matt Ritchie.

More from Saints Marching

• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 2: Arrivals
• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
• It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
• Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
• A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse

The hosts took the lead in the 28th minute however and it was Ayoze Perez who claimed another potentially important strike for his side.

After netting the winner last time out against Leicester, the Spaniard clipped his shot inside the far post after holding off Jan Bednarek’s challenge to make it 1-0.

And just four minutes later, the Magpies’ lead was doubled through the same source.

The Saints defence was slow to pick up the run of Salomon Rondon and his cross was perfect for Perez to turn home at the far post.

After a fairly lacklustre first-half display,  Ralph Hasenhuttl took action at half time with two substitutions. Both Mario Lemina and Stuart Armstrong were introduced in place of Jack Stephens and Josh Sims.

This positivity had an almost immediate effect too.

After Maya Yoshida had gone close to scoring with a header and Ki Sung-yeung had hit the post up the other end, substitute Lemina got his side back into the game.

Saints pressure led to a loose ball falling to the Gabon international and he placed a perfect strike into the far corner to half the deficit.

The visitors were really on the up and Yoshida missed a golden chance to draw Saints level when he turned a Redmond cross over.

Newcastle were still very dangerous on the counter though and Angus Gunn made a superb stop to keep out Isaac Hayden’s stinging volley from range that also took a deflection on its way through.

Despite Gunn’s efforts, Newcastle would get their third as the impressive Perez completed his hat-trick by flicking in Matt Ritchie’s diving header from close range.

Saints’ bid for Premier League safety remains very much in their own hands but today’s result will have been something of a blow.