Ten-man Newcastle United grinded out a 1-0 win over newly-promoted Southampton in their Premier League opener at St James’ Park.
Fabian Schar was red carded half-an-hour in when he was adjudged to have headbutted Ben Brereton-Diaz. However, the home side went on to take the lead against the run of play when Joelinton scored on the brink of half-time.
The Magpies put every man behind the ball in the second-half and relied on Alexander Isak to counter forward. There were some nervy moments but Eddie Howe’s men held out for three points.
Bruno Guimaraes captained Newcastle as he lined up a three-man midfield of Joelinton and Sean Longstaff. Tino Livramento got the nod ahead of Kieran Trippier at right-back while Anthony Gordon started on the left hand side of attack.
Southampton had the ball in the net 10 minutes in through Jack Stephens but the goal was quickly disallowed for offside.
The Saints were on top and were handed an extra-man advantage when Fabian Schar was sent off in the 30th minute for a dubious headbutt on Ben Brereton-Diaz. There was a VAR check but Craig Pawson’s on-field decisions stood.
And from then on, tempers flared. The visitors continued their dominance but Newcastle dramatically took the lead when a mistake from goalkeeper Alex McCarthy saw Alexander Isak set up Joelinton just before at half-time.
Here’s our Newcastle United player ratings:
5. Lewis Hall - 6
Was booked just nine minutes for bringing down Yukinari Sugawara. Guilty of giving the ball away in dangerous areas, although did make a vital contribution to clear Adam Armstrong’s shot off the line. | Getty Images
6. Bruno Guimaraes - 8
Captain for the day and while it wasn’t his most influential performance, or his best, he dug deep for his team. Warrior. | Getty Images
7. Sean Longstaff - 7.5
Gave everything for the badge. Put into some strong tackles which were loudly greeted by the St James’ Park crowd. | Getty Images
8. Joelinton - 9.5
Here, there and everywhere. The Brazilian was an absolute beast for his side, capped off with a coolly taken goal. United’s player of the match by some distance. | Getty Images