Newcastle United returned to winning ways in the Premier League with a 3-1 win at bottom of the table Southampton.
The hosts took the lead via Jan Bednarek’s header but a double from Alexander Isak put Newcastle 2-1 up at half-time. Sandro Tonali then gave the Magpies breathing space with his goal in the 52nd minute.
Eddie Howe made one change from the 4-1 defeat at AFC Bournemouth with Fabian Schar coming in for Sven Botman. On the bench, Nick Pope returned after seven weeks out with a knee injury as Odysseas Vlachodimos dropped out of the squad.
Newcastle made an encouraging start to the game but fell behind in the 10th minute when a James Bree cross was headed home by Jan Bednarek. That was only the eight time the Saints have scored at St Mary’s in the Premier League this season.
Sixteen minutes later, the Magpies levelled through Alexander Isak’s penalty. It was the Swede who won the spot-kick after being brought down by Joe Aribo.
And it didn’t take long for the visitors to go in front, again through Isak as he superbly controlled a past from Jacob Murphy to slot the ball into the bottom right corner.
Newcastle went 3-1 in front almost immediately after the restart when a deft touch by Anthony Gordon put Sandro Tonali one-on-one and the Italian delivered with the finish.
Mateus Fernandes thought he’d made it 3-2 in the closing stages but following a VAR check, the Saints midfielder was flagged offside.
Our writer Jordan Cronin was at St Mary’s - and here are his Newcastle United player ratings:
1. GettyImages-2195880312
Getty Images
2. Martin Dubravka - 7
Faced several crosses into his box one of which he flapped at early in the second-half but recovered to make a terrific save. | Getty Images
3. Tino Livramento - 7.5
Helped get Newcastle on the front foot with his overlapping runs. Oozed confidence on his return to his former club. | Getty Images
4. Fabian Schar - 6.5
A lapse concentration almost led to Southampton making it 3-2 but offside saved the Swiss. Is usually consistently good with his distribution but was a bit hit and missy. | Getty Images