Southampton 0-1 Newcastle United: Three Match Takeaway Thoughts
By Joe Mcindoe
10-man Southampton fight hard but lose to a costly error, as Newcastle prevail 0-1.
Allan Saint-Maximin’s late strike secured all three points for the Toon, after stealing the ball from a returning Yan Valery.
Defeat to the Geordies means that Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men have now failed to win in four of their last five Premier League games. While the club remain clear of the relegation scrap on 34 points, any realistic hope of securing a top eight finish appears to have evaporated.
Saints battled hard but found themselves on the back foot after Moussa Djenepo was dismissed on the 28th minute after trotting on a sliding Isaac Hayden. Although, Djenepo’s connection with Hayden’s ankle was accidental, use of the pitch side monitor left Referee Graham Scott in little doubt.
Things then went from bad to worse as the South coast side conceded a penalty just before the interval. Sofiane Boufal thrust his arm out to meet the ball and it didn’t take long for The Video Assistant Referee to spot the infraction.
Alex McCarthy got his Moroccan colleague off the hook with an excellent penalty save and proved to be superb between the sticks. As well as saving a spot kick the Englishman also made a remarkable triple shot save at point-blank range.
Despite, plenty of endeavour from the hosts, the St Mary’s faithful endured a typically disappointing home defeat. The result might not be much to write home about, but there is still plenty of discussion points from the afternoon’s action.
Here are the three takeaways from Southampton 0 Newcastle United 1.