Southampton 2 - 0 Newcastle: Saints dispatch Toon Army

Newcastle’s woeful run of form continued as they slumped to a dismal 2-0 defeat at Southampton.

The Toon went into the game needing a morale boost but never looked at the races at St Mary’s as a combination of the woodwork and Tim Krul saves prevented the Saints racking up a cricket score.

Nigel Adkins’ men were full of attacking verve early on and twice went close as Gaston Ramirez and Rickie Lambert rattled Tim Krul’s woodwork.

It was only a matter of time for the Saints and after 34 minutes they finally got their reward as Nathaniel Clyne’s attempted lob was cleared but only as far as Ramirez who duly squared for captain Adam Lallana to provide the simplest of finishes.

Alan Pardew’s men appeared devoid of ideas but Papiss Cisse did manage to set Vurnon Anita free. However, it was not the man they wanted in a one-on-one situation as the Dutchman tamely struck his effort straight at Paulo Gazzaniga.

The Saints were not about to let Newcastle back into the game and after 59 minutes Ramirez got the goal he deserved as the ball was fizzed into the box and the Uruguayan latched on to Krul’s poor parry.

Jason Puncheon almost added a third for Southampton when his shot cannoned off the post and Jose Fonte also had his head in his hands when he headed off the bar.

With minutes left on the clock there was still time for the Saints to feel hard done by as youngster Jay Rodriguez was wrongly flagged offside after he burst through and fired past Krul.

But two was enough for Adkins as Southampton moved out of the relegation zone to leave Newcastle with only one win in their last eight Premier League games.