The Keegan derby at St James' Park: King Kev would have loved it
SAINTS AND SINNERS: Newcastle's Paraguayan midfielder Miguel Almiron goes down under the challenge of Southampton's Nathan Redmond in the thriller at St James' Park. Steve Bruce's nine men hung on for a crucial three points.
Premier League: Newcastle 3 Southampton 2.
IT was fitting that two clubs so inexorably linked to the storied career of Kevin Keegan should combine to produce a contest utterly brim-full of entertainment, if not always for the right reasons.
The beautiful game this was not, but it was nevertheless riveting fare from start to finish with all the frills and spills of a footballing circus, Southampton's porous defence unfortunately cast in the role of the clown's car, complete with comedy horn.
"I feel like we did some good things. And obviously we did some bad things."
The Saints are a team clearly in desperate need of going back to basics, so Nathan Redmond's stripped-down assessment of their latest masterclass in how not to prevent the other team from scoring seemed apt.
In fairness to the midfielder, there were some good things. An eye-catching debut strike from on-loan midfielder Takumi Minamino - cue gags about a Liverpool player actually scoring - and the latest addition to the growing list of stunning free-kick goals by James Ward-Prowse as they twice halved a two-goal deficit.
The midfielder's four goals from set-pieces this season is bettered only by David Beckham and former Newcastle winger Laurent Robert in Premier League history, each scoring five. The England international surely needs to patent that strip of grass 25 to 30 yards from goal as 'Ward-Prowse territory' before someone steals his thunder.
Onto the rather more thorny issue of Redmond's 'bad things', or as Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl put it: "It felt like every chance of theirs was going to produce a goal."
In mitigation, they only shipped a third of the amount they had conceded against Manchester United, a chastening outcome the Austrian wondered if his charges were still in shock from as they played an unwitting role in each Newcastle goal.
Jan Bednarek probably wished his red card from Old Trafford hadn't been overturned as the Pole endured another sobering 90 minutes, albeit one where he didn't at least have to deal with Mike Dean.
Easily given the slip by Allan Saint-Maximin in the prelude to Joe Willock's neatly-dispatched debut goal on loan from Arsenal, a hopelessly flat-footed Bednarek then deflected in Miguel Almiron's shot past Alex McCarthy for the hosts' second.
The South American's somewhat disingenuous insistence on claiming the goal at least spared the Southampton man the ignominy of own goals in consecutive matches. There was less conjecture over the forward's second goal, directed past a woefully positioned McCarthy after the goalkeeper's hospital pass in the general direction of Ryan Bertrand had been intercepted long before reaching its intended target.
Redmond added: "We gave ourselves a chance but we're disappointed in ourselves. We were lacklustre and were punished for it. Defending as a unit is one of the things we looked at, especially on the back of last week." That final sentence appeared to be at significant odds with how Southampton actually went about their work. They scaled the summit of the division after beating Newcastle in November, but they'll be lucky to finish in the top half at this rate.
And yet given all their faults, they so nearly came away with a point from what was ultimately a fifth successive defeat. Danny Ings' shot struck a post as Newcastle were forced for the final 40 minutes to hang on with 10 men, which became nine for the last 15.
Jeff Hendrick's brainless tug at Minamino's shirt while already on a yellow card added to the general air of ineptitude. The hosts had used their three subs when Fabian Schar was carried off with a knee injury but Steve Bruce's side merely upped the ante in the siege mentality stakes to doggedly cling on for a second victory in three games.
Newcastle triumphed thanks to being the least worst of the two sides, but let that not take away from the fact that the litany of mistakes from both teams resulted in a rollicking afternoon's fun. Had he been in attendance at St James' Park, King Kev, as he once so famously said, would surely have loved it.
Darlow 7; Manquillo 6 (Krafth 24, 5), Hayden 7, Schar 6, Lewis 5; Hendrick 3, Shelvey 5; Almiron 8, Willock 8, Saint-Maximin 8 (Dummett 67, 7); Wilson 6 (Joelinton 36, 5).
McCarthy 4; Stephens 5 (N'Lundulu 81, 6), Vestergaard 6, Bednarek 3, Bertrand 6; Minamino 7, Ward-Prowse 8, Romeu 6, Redmond 7; Adams 6, Ings 6.
Referee: Craig Pawson.
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