Newcastle United faced off against Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium earlier tonight as they looked to secure a positive result in the first leg of their EFL Cup semifinal tie. The Magpies made a decent start to the game but were held to a scoreless draw at the half-time break.
Joelinton finally made the breakthrough for the Tyneside club in the 73rd minute which proved to be the only goal of the contest. The match ended with Eddie Howe’s men earning a hard-fought 1-0 win away from home.
Let’s take a look at how each Newcastle United player performed during the match against the Saints.
GK: Nick Pope – 7.5/10
The English keeper made a few crucial saves at the back and secured a well-deserved clean sheet on the road.
RB: Kieran Trippier – 7/10
He performed his defensive duties well and had a few lively moments in the final third.
CB: Fabian Schar – 6.5/10
Schar kept things solid at the back and performed well enough to keep the opposition at bay.
CB: Sven Botman – 7/10
He did enough to clear the danger when the Saints were on the front foot and would be pleased with the clean sheet tonight.
LB: Dan Burn – 7/10
Burn gave a good account of himself on the defensive end of the field and engineered one key chance in the final third.
CM: Sean Longstaff – 6.5/10
He worked hard at both ends of the pitch and won a couple of aerial duels as well.
CM: Bruno Guimaraes – 7/10
The Brazilian talent anchored the midfield well and orchestrated two key chances in the final third.
CM: Joe Willock – 6.5/10
Willock was a real threat in the final third but failed to take any of his chances.
RW: Miguel Almiron – 6.5/10
He engineered a couple of meaningful opportunities for his teammates to score but failed to find the back of the net.
ST: Callum Wilson – 6/10
Wilson caused a few headaches for the Southampton defenders but never looked like he had a goal in him.
LW: Joelinton – 7.5/10
He came back to defend when required and scored the only goal of the game in the 73rd minute. Joelinton just about deserves to be named the man of the match.
Substitutes:
LW: Allan Saint-Maximin – 6.5/10
Saint-Maximin made two good runs with the ball after coming off the bench.
ST: Alexander Isak – 6.5/10
He picked up an assist for setting up Joelinton’s match-winner in the 73rd minute.
RW: Jacob Murphy – 6/10
Murphy added some energy to Eddie Howe’s attack.
