Southampton 1-4 Newcastle: Player ratings as Almiron scores again in Saints thrashing
Miguel Almiron continued his hot streak in front of goal as he scored in Newcastle's romping 4-1 win against a dire Southampton side on Sunday.
The Paraguayan opened the scoring at St. Mary's in the 35th minute by striking into the bottom corner after a slick counter attack for his seventh Premier League goal in his last seven games.
Southampton had chances to respond but were poor in front of goal before the Magpies took the game away from the hosts with two goals in three second-half minutes.
Substitute Chris Wood converted when Jacob Murphy's deflected cross broke to the New Zealander, who beat Mohammed Salisu and curled a precise finish beyond Gavin Bazunu. Newcastle looked in full flow and Kieran Trippier soon intercepted a pass to play in Joe Willock, who provided a similar, if a little weaker, shot to beat Bazunu into the same bottom corner.
Romain Perraud did strike late on to give Southampton some hope, but Bruno Guimaraes went straight up the other end of the pitch and scored a screamer from distance, reestablishing Newcastle's three-goal winning margin.
Newcastle have now climbed to third in the Premier League table before Tottenham host Liverpool later on Sunday. Their unbeaten run has stretched to nine games, with the only blemish on Eddie Howe's record this year being a 2-1 defeat at Liverpool.
The result piles further pressure on Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, who has overseen just three league wins this season with his side sitting 18th.
While Newcastle were efficient in front of goal, the Saints spurned almost every good chance that came their way. Mohamed Elyounoussi could have equalised on half time but somehow contrived to miss the target from six yards out.
Che Adams might have got Southampton back in the game, too, had he not smashed wide on the volley with James Ward-Prowse waiting unmarked for a knock down.
The hosts saw plenty of the ball at 3-0 down but could only muster a worthwhile punch with too little time remaining as Perraud latched onto Salisu's pass, cut inside and fired into the far corner for a consolation.
However, they got picked off on the counter as Allan Saint-Maximin rolled it to Guimaraes, who rattled in a superb strike from distance to round off a successful day's work for Newcastle.
Southampton 1-4 Newcastle player ratings - Premier League
Southampton player ratings
GK: Gavin Bazunu (5); RB: Juan Larios (7); CB: Armel Bella-Kotchap (7); CB: Mohammed Salisu (7); LB: Romain Perraud (7); CM: James Ward-Prowse (6); CM: Ainsley Maitland-Niles (6); RW: Theo Walcott (6); AM: Stuart Armstrong (7); LW: Mohamed Elyounoussi (7); ST: Che Adams (6).
SUB: Romeo Lavia (7); Joe Aribo (6); Samuel Edozie (6); Adam Armstrong (7); Duje Caleta-Car (6).
Newcastle player ratings
GK: Nick Pope (7); RB: Kieran Trippier (8); CB: Fabian Schar (7); CB: Sven Botman (7); LB: Dan Burn (7); CM: Sean Longstaff (7); CM: Bruno Guimaraes (8); CM: Joe Willock (8); RW: Miguel Almiron (8); ST: Callum Wilson (6); LW: Jacob Murphy (7).
SUB: Chris Wood (6); Jonjo Shelvey (6); Allan Saint-Maximin (6); Javier Manquillo (6), Elliot Anderson (N/A).