It is secure to suppose Callum Wilson does now not regard April because the cruellest month. At the top of March the England striker appeared completely out of varieties however 8 objectives in seven video games over the last 4 weeks have showed {that a} World Cup stoop exacerbated via a lingering virus is definitely and in point of fact over.
Wilson’s advent as a half-time replace reworked a fit which started badly for Newcastle however concluded with the house No 9 having scored two times and Eddie Howe’s third-placed facet it sounds as if set honest for the Champions League. Southampton, in the meantime, stay smartly and in point of fact caught on the backside of the Premier League.
“What an impact from Callum; he changed the game for us,” mentioned Howe. “Callum does not at all times get started however he lives to attain objectives and he is a super participant to have to your squad. He was once remarkable nowadays. We appeared slightly drained, slightly off, slightly flat within the first 1/2 however we regrouped, tweaked a few issues and blew Southampton away in the second one 1/2.”
It was the sort of grey, wet, rather chilly, Tyneside day which felt more like November than the eve of May but, initially, the weather proved the least of Howe’s problems.
Newcastle may have scored 10 goals in their previous two games against Tottenham and Everton but they were a goal down at half-time after Stuart Armstrong lashed Kamaldeen Sulemana’s low cross beyond Nick Pope from six yards at the end of a smart counterattack.
Carlos Alcaraz’s advances had caused Howe’s team sporadic problems from kick-off and, following Bruno Guimarães’s dispossession in the wake of a brilliant Roméo Lavia tackle, Alcaraz played a prominent role in initiating that visiting break. Albeit temporarily, relegation no longer necessarily seemed inevitable for Rubén Sellés’s side after all.
Wherever Southampton end up it will be no surprise if Lavia remains in the Premier League. The midfielder was Sellés’s best player and it was not his fault that his departmental sidekicks were ultimately overwhelmed by Joe Willock and co.
Very shortly before that breakthrough Howe had instructed his wide forwards, Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon to swap wings in a rejig also involving Joelinton and Willock exchanging midfield positions.
Whether or not this revamp prompted the “methods failure” prefacing Southampton’s goal, Howe restored Murphy to the right at the outset of the second half while also replacing Gordon with Wilson.
Although Gordon had frequently enjoyed waltzing past Lyanco, the former Everton winger’s final ball consistently let him down; not to mention irritated certain teammates. Such frustration was only compounded when an unmarked Gordon missed Newcastle’s best chance of the first half, directing a shot against the outside of a post after being sent clear courtesy of Alexander Isak’s fabulous through ball.
With Wilson introduced at centre-forward Isak switched to the left where the Swede’s devastating change of pace and intelligent crosses proceeded to unnerve a hitherto impressively resilient and ambitious Southampton.
It was perhaps no coincidence that it was Isak’s low cross which precipitated the onrushing Wilson flicking the equalizer beyond Alex McCarthy with the accomplishment of a striker scoring his seventh goal in seven games. Wilson had another “goal” disallowed for offside following his connection with another Isak cross and, then, a lengthy VAR review before an own goal from substitute Theo Walcott after Sven Botman had nodded a Kieran Trippier corner on gave Newcastle the lead.
By now though Southampton were dropping dangerously deep and Newcastle seemed to be limping up nicely for next Sunday’s date with title-challenging Arsenal here. Sure enough when the increasingly influential Willock forced Ainsley Maitland-Niles into forfeiting possession Wilson delighted in pouncing and rounding McCarthy before sliding his 15th goal of the season into the empty net. In stoppage time alone the crossbar came twice between Wilson and the completion of a hat-trick.
After seeing his side collect just one point from six games in the past month, April has proved particularly cruel for Sellés. “I’m nonetheless very sure we will be able to keep up,” said Southampton’s defiant interim manager, whose side travel to Nottingham Forest for a potentially definitive relegation six-pointer next Monday.
“We knew what to do within the first 1/2 however we did not react to Isak transferring to the facet briefly sufficient and could not hook up with every different in the second one 1/2. We should be more potent in tough moments however we are nonetheless alive. We’ll battle until the very finish.