When Eddie Howe called for a response from Newcastle after the bruising end to their nine-game winning streak last Saturday, he was aware the immediate task ahead was statistically the gentlest the Premier League can provide; perhaps destined to be the easiest in top-flight history.
Results aside – an absurd combination of words in a sporting context – Southampton are no pushovers. They took the lead here for the third time in five league games. But they rarely draw and almost never win. And this is a Newcastle side with serious intentions and some serious players.
In Alexander Isak they possess arguably the most potent striker in Europe. Two more goals on the south coast takes his tally to 18 in his past 18 games. There is surely no amount of money that could prompt Newcastle to even consider letting him leave.
Newcastle are about far more though. Anthony Gordon frequently showed his wizardry on the ball, Jacob Murphy hit the post and provided a sublime assist, Joelinton was his usual pesky self and, boy oh boy, was Sandro Tonali a delight. Not content with breaking down an abundance of Southampton moves, the Italian popped up to convert Newcastle’s third in fine fashion.
That galling 4-1 defeat against Bournemouth – when Isak failed to register a shot from open play – is forgotten. “The performance and the result [against Bournemouth] weren’t anywhere near what we have been of late,” said Howe. “So today’s game, especially conceding so early, that was a huge response from the players. We needed to dig deep and we did.”
It was Isak’s two goals in four minutes that returned Newcastle’s march towards Champions League football to its rightful course after Jan Bednarek’s unlikely opener. His first came from the penalty spot after he had gone down under a Joe Aribo lunge.
The referee waved away Newcastle’s appeals, but was summoned to view footage on the pitchside monitor, which showed the Southampton man had, marginally, made enough contact with Isak to send him tumbling.
There was no doubting the validity of Isak’s second. Murphy followed his superb run down the centre with a defence-splitting through ball, which Isak expertly controlled before curling past Alex McCarthy – deputising for the injured Aaron Ramsdale – and into the far corner.
The Swedish striker was involved in Newcastle’s third, chesting the ball down to Gordon, who played it beautifully into Tonali’s path on the volley, giving the Italian time to bear down on goal and pick his spot.
While it would take little short of a miracle to avoid Southampton’s return to Championship football next season, there is, at least, no sense of resignation among their players. In the previous fortnight they have given Nottingham Forest an almighty late scare and come close to embarrassing Manchester United. There was, again, no let up here. Were it not for a propensity to give the ball away, a lack of cutting edge and the existence of video assistant referees, they might have avoided that familiar feeling of defeat.
The hosts’ early goal was crossed by one member of their three-man defence, James Bree, and headed home by another, Bednarek. The third member, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, came close to adding his name to the scoresheet with a bicycle kick early in the second half.
But their misery was compounded five minutes from time when Mateus Fernandes thought his composed finish had set up a tense finale, only for replays to show he had started his run from an offside position.
“It seems like everything is going wrong,” said Ivan Juric. “Even if we perform well it’s not enough.” Six Premier League games into his tenure, his wait for a first point goes on.
