Southampton 1 Newcastle United 3 | OneFootball

Newcastle trailed in the opening stages at St Mary's Stadium following Jan Bednarek's header before Alexander Isak's quick-fire brace turned the contest in United's favour, with the Swedish forward equalising from the penalty spot before netting his 17th Premier League goal of the season on the half-hour mark.

Sandro Tonali doubled United's advantage shortly after the restart, the Italian's first Premier League goal since netting on his debut against Aston Villa in August 2023, as Eddie Howe's side moved into the top four.

Against the run of play, Newcastle fell behind in the tenth minute through Southampton's first attempt on target as Bednarek rose high from James Bree's first-time cross on the right flank before the unmarked Pole directed his header into the right-hand corner.

Martin Dúbravka prevented former Magpie Adam Armstrong from doubling the Saints' advantage minutes later as the Slovakian goalkeeper held the Geordie forward's fierce drive at goal from the edge of the penalty area.

In the 26th minute, Isak scored in his sixth consecutive away fixture after converting from the penalty spot. As the Swedish striker was fouled inside the box by Joe Aribo, referee Sam Barrott awarded a spot-kick following a VAR review before Isak confidently slotted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner from 12 yards, sending Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy the wrong way in the process.

Newcastle took the lead four minutes later courtesy of Isak's impressive finish as the 25-year-old forward controlled Jacob Murphy's delightful through ball before cooly slotting the ball into the net via the right-hand post, moving above Callum Wilson into second place on the club's all-time Premier League goalscoring list.

Joelinton, who scored the winning goal in the reverse fixture against the Saints in August, struck the woodwork minutes later as the Brazilian midfielder controlled the ball inside the box before his resulting effort hit the right-hand post.

Isak went close to netting his second hat-trick of the 2024/25 campaign as the in-form striker combined with Murphy once again before his drilled low effort was blocked by the right leg of McCarthy.

Dúbravka produced a terrific save to deny Taylor Harwood-Bellis from levelling the encounter in the opening minutes of the second-half, tipping the centre-back's overhead kick from point-blank range over the crossbar.

The save proved vital as, in the 51st minute, Tonali extended Newcastle's lead in wonderful fashion, racing onto Anthony Gordon's defence-splitting pass after the central midfielder initially won possession in aggressive fashion before, with time and space, calmly placing the ball into the left-hand corner before wheeling away to celebrate in front of the ecstatic away supporters.

Newcastle hit the post for a second time as Murphy cut inside from the right flank before the winger's curling effort from the edge of the box cannoned off the foot of the left-hand post.

Joelinton almost completed a wonderful counter-attack as the South American midfielder latched onto Gordon's cutback before the former's shot was blocked off the line by the recovering Bednarek.

Newcastle's lead looked to have been halved in the closing stages through Mateus Fernandes, who raced onto McCarthy's kick from distance before firing home but, after a lengthy VAR review, the goal was disallowed after the Portuguese midfielder had strayed into an offside position.

Miguel Almirón went close to scoring in stoppage-time as the Paraguayan winger completed a solo run into the box before his right-footed strike was blocked out for a corner by McCarthy but the miss would not prove costly as the Magpies ensured maximum points on the South coast.