Southampton 1-2 Newcastle: New signings shine as mighty Mags go marching on!

No Joelinton. No Saint-Maximin. No Wilson. No Trippier. No problem.

I am running out of superlatives for this new-look Newcastle United, as Eddie Howe's Mags come away 2-1 winners at Southampton thanks to goals from Chris Wood and Bruno Guimaraes.

One a night where some felt our unbeaten run might just come to an end, we dug deep and got the better of a Saints side who'd only lost ONE game at St Mary's all season.

It was a night where new signings shone and spirit, hard work and character won out, as we responded superbly from going a goal down to pull off yet another big win.

The result takes us 10 (yes, TEN!) points clear of the drop zone, with results going our way elsewhere as Leeds and Watford were hammered - although I'm not sure that conversation is needed any more the way we are going!

We've now won SIX of our last seven games and extended our unbeaten run to NINE games thanks to tonight's win against a Southampton. We remain in 14th but are now just five points from 9th and four points away from a place in the top 10; which is some going when we have a game in hand on most of those sides in the mix.

Ralph Hasenhuttl would've been fuming when he saw the Newcastle United team sheet, with FOUR January signings all in Eddie Howe's XI.

This was because Bruno Guimaraes came in for his first Premier League start, with our £35m man replacing the 'injured' Joelinton - who was this one out alongside an unwell Allan Saint-Maximin.

STARTING 11: Dubravka – Krafth, Schar, Burn, Targett – Willock, Shelvey, Guimaraes – Murphy, Wood, Fraser.

SUBS: Darlow, Dummett, Lascelles, Manquillo, Ritchie, Longstaff, De Bolle, Almiron, Gayle.

We made a confident start to the game over the opening 10 minutes, passing the ball well and looking pretty comfortable against a Saints side who usually dominate possession and control games at home. However, the tide soon changed and so did the scoreline.

Walker-Peters was getting a lot of joy down the left and was allowed too much space (by Murphy) to get a cross in. Targett was outnumbered by Broja and Elyounoussi at the far post and the latter headed back across goal for Armstrong, who nodded home after his effort struck Burn and crept past Dubravka. 1-0 Southampton on the 25th minute mark.

We were struggling to get to grips with them in wide areas and looked more vulnerable defensively, with the balance in midfield seeming slightly off and weaker in Joelinton's absence. The big Brazilian's disruptive power, constant energy and ability to protect the ball was noticeably missing.

However, we were level just seven minutes later. After working the ball out wide, Jonjo Shelvey whipped in a brilliant cross which was attacked superbly by Chris Wood.

The Kiwi got a run on Salisu and powered a header past Forster to bring us level and bag his first goal for the club! An important goal at a time where the game threatened to get away from us and EXACTLY what the big man needed to get off the mark as a Newcastle United player. 1-1!

After that, we went into our shells a little and the hosts continued to look by far the more threatening, with us fortunate to stay level as Adams smashed the bar after latching onto a Shelvey interception.

Guimaraes was showing flashes of his undoubted quality - even if our midfield looked a little unbalanced without big Joe - and he swung in a superb cross just seconds before the break which Willock should've really done better with.

The second half kicked off and we needed to up our game if we were going to come away from the South Coast with a result - and we did exactly that.

After Murphy forced a corner from a shot well blocked and the new signings combined to great effect just seconds later.

Targett's delivery was swung in to the back post, Burn got his head to it and found Bruno Guimaraes, who pulled off an incredible backheel flick to fire the ball past Forster!

2-1 Newcastle and incredible scenes in the away end as our £35m Brazilian celebrated his first goal for the club in front of 3,300 Geordies who were now in dreamland down South.

We then had chances to make it 3-1. Bruno had a header blocked and Targett's low drive was heading in had it not been blocked by Salisu. Burn was also causing havoc in the box, with us having a sustained period of possession that saw Southampton camped in their own box and unable to get out.

That period passed and they came back into it, yet we suddenly looked so much more organised and able to defend in wide areas - something we just didn't get to grips with early on.

A knackered Bruno Guimaraes then made way with just over 20 minutes to play, seeing Sean Longstaff come on in his place to add some fresh legs to our tiring midfield.

Geordie striker Adam Armstrong then entered the match moments later, but despite all their possession and a flurry of threatening corners whipped in by Ward-Prowse, we stood strong and had an answer to everything they threw at us.

Almiron replaced Fraser - who'd ran himself into the ground once again - and it was then Dubravka's turn to step up, with the Slovakian making an outstanding save down to his right to deny a Salisu header that looked set to creep in before the big man got a glove to it.

Six minutes of added time were shown on the board and Southampton - who didn't know how to break down this stubborn NUFC defence - had one last effort through Armstrong, who saw his long range effort tipped over the bar by Dubravka.

Schar won a foul from the resultant corner and the referees whistle went soon after. A superb reaction to going 1-0 down, a huge effort from a visibly tired side and a night where the quality of new signings and sheer grit and determination of existing players won the day.

Next up, a trip to Chelsea on Sunday!