Ayoze Perez will be delighted with his first Newcastle hat-trick which secured Rafa Benitez’s side three points at St. James’ Park in a 3-1 win over Southampton.
Saturday evening saw two sides battling it out near the bottom of the table, which was always likely to cultivate entertainment and it did not take long before the drama began. Miguel Almiron latched on to a cleared ball from a Southampton corner kick and despite being two on one, the midfielder seemed to have the pace to beat the Saints defence and go through on goal.
Until James Ward-Prowse stepped in, it was evident for all to see that Ward-Prowse had no intention of playing the ball as he body-checked Almiron just inside his half. Anthony Taylor judged this not a clear goal scoring opportunity and controversially gave Ward-Prowse a yellow card, to the disarray of the Newcastle fans and manager alike.
The 27th minute saw Newcastle go 1-0 up though and fans will have felt that was only fair considering the earlier incident involving Ward-Prowse. Some sloppy defending was picked up upon by Isaac Hayden, who then played the ball into Perez as the Spaniard was excellent as he dribbled to the right-hand side of the box. A shot from that angle looked almost greedy though as Solomon Rondon was in the box waiting to pounce; however, an intelligent dinked finish saw the ball rebound off of the inside of the post to give Newcastle the lead.
It only took The Magpies four minutes to double their lead over the Saints too and it came via some more dogged defending from Benitez’s side. After winning the ball in the centre of midfield, Rondon was released down the left flank and after a powerful run, he delivered a superb cross across the face of goal that was begging to be tucked away. Arriving at the back post was Perez, who just wanted the ball more than his opponent Ryan Bertrand. An outstretched leg from Perez saw the ball directed goalward, bouncing over saint’s keeper Angus Gunn.
Two changes in the second half from Hasenhuttl saw a more positive attacking style, and the two substitutes Stuart Armstrong and Mario Lemina linked up to bring the goal deficit down to one. Some excellent work down the right-hand side from Nathan Redmond ended in a low cross just shy of the 18-yard line, Armstrong’s touch landed in the path of Lemina who dispatched an arrow into the bottom right corner of the net.
Southampton piled the pressure on Newcastle in the second half but to no avail, and ultimately Perez put the nail in the coffin in the 86th minute to secure his hattrick. Diame’s half-cleared cross ended in the path of Matt Ritchie. His brave header was certainly goal bound, but Perez popped up with a clever flick to take it beyond Gunn and sink Southampton’s chances of a comeback at St. James’ Park.
Defensive changes cost the Saints
Since Hasenhuttl arrived in Southampton, his defensive shape has been remarkably consistent, unlike Mark Hughes who had nine different defensive combinations in 14 games. However, Jannik Vestergaard and Yan Valery were both unavailable on Saturday through injury and illness respectively. This led to the reintroduction of Jack Stephens at centre-half and Ward-Prowse to right wing-back position.
Jack Stephens was renowned for his mistakes under Hughes and has failed to start since Hasenhuttl took charge. Disruption from the norm is a reasonable explanation for what happened to a Saints side that has recently been very solid. Benitez would have been aware of this and made the most of their situation as the Saints conceded three goals, which hasn’t happened since they played Manchester United, a few months ago.
Newcastle sharpness gives them all three points
Absolutely nothing can be taken away from Newcastle after Saturday’s victory as Southampton’s poor defending was paired with an excellent performance from Newcastle’s defence, all the way through to their attack. The suppression of Redmond and Danny Ings reduced the chance of Southampton getting into areas which could have put Newcastle in danger, while the tireless pressing from the midfield led to many opportunities throughout the game for the Magpies, which ultimately gave them all three points.
Sloppy defending from Hassenhuttl’s side
With defensive changes comes potential disruption, and that is exactly what happened for Southampton. The midfield and defence looked like they had no idea how each other played, which was evident for the first goal. An ordinarily reliable Maya Yoshida played a pass to Hojbjerg in midfield who was running away from the ball, this led to the interception that would set up Perez for his first goal of the day.
Ward-Prowse was then the culprit as he lost the ball in the centre of the park, which led to the release of Rondon and Perez’s second goal. The third was a combination of a lack of determination and a poor clearance from Bertrand and Bednarek, which ultimately sank the Saints who were putting pressure on the Magpies. Surprising from a Southampton fans point of view was every player mentioned has been excellent since Hasenhuttl came in, and it was just an off day for the men in yellow and blue.
Perez masterclass
Ayoze Perez was razor sharp as his three goals raised his tally for the season to ten. He has previously scored four goals in seven home games for the Magpies but what a day to turn up and give this level of performance. Newcastle would have been worried at the recent spike in Southampton’s form, but Perez’s first-half goals gave the Saints a long uphill battle. His determination and skill won him the man of the match award, while almost definitely securing Newcastle a place in next years Premier League.
League positions
The win for Newcastle catapulted them into 12th position on 41 points. Ten points above the relegation zone with four games to go is a handy position to be in especially considering the volume of teams between them and the drop. The same can not be said for Southampton however, as they only sit five points ahead of Cardiff and two points ahead of Brighton in 16th place.
