Newcastle vs Southampton Player Ratings: Joelinton makes the difference
A 10-man Newcastle United held on to begin their 2024-25 Premier League campaign with a 1-0 win against newly promoted Southampton at St. James’ Park. It wasn’t pretty or easy for Eddie Howe’s side who were on the defensive for most of the match after Fabian Schar was given a straight red following a tussle with Ben Brereton Diaz in the 28th minute.
However, the hosts went into the interval with an unexpected lead after Joelinton scored , making full use of a poor pass from Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy. Southampton, for all their possession, failed to find a way past a stingy Newcastle defence despite Adam Armstrong going close on a couple of occasions. The Premier League newcomers had 77.7% of possession and an xG of 1.62, compared to the Magpies’ xG of 0.25, but will begin their life back in the top division with a narrow defeat. H
owe’s men will next travel to face Bournemouth in the league next Sunday, while Martin’s Southampton will search for their first point when they host Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The newly promoted side however will take heart from their performance in this one, especially from their midfield while in possession. It was ultimately a game decided by fine margins.
Let’s have a look at Newcastle vs Southampton player ratings for this match!
Newcastle player ratings vs Southampton
Goalkeeper
Nick Pope — 6/10. Was solid throughout. Made 3 good saves and his long passing was on point too.
Defenders
Tino Livramento — 6/10. Average outing for the youngster who played over Trippier. Completed only 8 passes in 90 mins.
Fabian Schar — 2/10. Got sent off less than half an hour in for a tussle with Ben Brereton Diaz.
Dan Burn — 7/10. Fantastic outing from the big man. Had a lot of covering to do post Schar’s red card but did it admirably.
Lewis Hall — 6/10. Probably the first choice at LB for Eddie Howe now. Created 1 chance and picked up a yellow.
Midfielders
Sean Longstaff —6/10. Did little in possession and had the least touches. Did win 3/3 of his tackles though and covered ground very well.
Bruno Guimaraes — 8/10. Fantastic outing from him. Dug deep after the red and took a lot of responsibility. Won the most duels (12) and the most tackles (4).
Joelinton — 8/10. Ran a lot, covered a lot of ground and scored the all important goal to win it for Newcastle.
Jacob Murphy — 5/10. Only played half an hour before being taken off due to Schar’s red.
Anthony Gordon— 6/10. Very direct and looked threatening but the end product wasn’t quite there with 10 men.
Forwards
Alexander Isak — 7/10. Didn’t take any shots but combined well and was responsible for creating the winner.
Substitutions:
Emil Kraft —6/10. Came in to replace Schar and did the job. Completed only 2 passes in an hour of football as Newcastle barely had the ball.
Lloyd Kelly —6/10. Decent first game for the Magpies in the Premier League. Subbed in for Hall.
Harvey Barnes — 5/10. Didn’t have much to do. Newcastle barely had any possession after he came on.
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Southampton player ratings vs Newcastle United
Goalkeeper
Alex McCarthy– 4/10. Made a horrible error that basically awarded a 10-man Newcastle the win.
Defenders
Taylor Harwood-Bellis – 6/10. The 22 year old didn’t have a whole lot of defending to do. His passing was decent.
Jan Bednarek – 6/10. Completed 94% of his passes. Was spectacular with his longer passes, completing 8 out of 8.
Jack Stephens – 6/10. Completed the most passes in the game, and didn’t have much defending to do but struggled against Isak at times.
Midfielders
Yukinari Sugawara – 6/10. Seemed to do well in his debut in England. Created a big chance.
Will Smallbone – 7/10. Was quite active in a box to box role. Showed tenacity in tackling and took a number of shots.
Flynn Downes – 7/10. Saw a lot of the ball, completed 93% of his passes and created the most chances in the game.
Joe Aribo – 6/10. Created a big chance and kept things tidy and ticking at the centre of the park.
Kyle Walker-Peters – 6/10. Got up and down well. Completed more dribbles than anyone in the match.
Forwards
Ben Brereton Diaz – 6/10. Worked hard. Played a key role in getting Schar sent off. Took 2 shots and created a chance.
Adam Armstrong – 6/10. Took as many as 5 shots but failed to disturb the netting. Missed a big chance.
Substitutions:
Samuel Edozie – 6/10. Tried to take his man on frequently, created one chance.
Tyler Dibling – 6/10. Decent cameo from the 18 year old, created a chance.
Cameron Archer – 6/10. Came on late for a few minutes and looked sharp. Took two shots.
Carlos Alcaraz – 5/10. Came off the bench late on and barely had anything to do.
Samuel Amo-Ameyaw – 5/10. Came off the bench late on and barely had anything to do.