Sourced from Daily Mail article
REPORT: Kenedy first-half brace sets Newcastle up for Saints thrashing
Show/hide article…
One team gave up, and their manager admitted as much, the other gave everything.
Southampton’s players were jeered off the pitch before their boss, Mauricio Pellegrino, was booed onto the team bus by the same supporters who had scurried from the top tier of St James’ Park to make their feelings known.
They had probably moved quicker than any of their team had during an insluting performance which was in stark contrast to that of their hosts.
Somehow, Southampton remain outside the bottom three, although Pellegrino will do well to remain in employment after this surrender.
His post-match attack on his players was the most purposeful anyone from the visiting party had been all afternoon.
‘I did not observe the team with the right mentality to compete at this level,’ opened the Argentine, whose side have won just one in 17 in the Premier League.
'For me, this is the worst thing. You can lose, you can play bad, but you have to show fight on the pitch. For this reason I want to say sorry to the fans because we could not represent our club properly.
'You can have good players, but without personality and spirit you cannot compete. That is a minimum you have to show.
‘I observed some players who gave up. We cannot show this. We were never a threat for Newcastle.’
This was an easy victory for the Magpies, who have made a habit of making things look far harder than they should have been this season.
For this, unlike a lot of their relegation rivals, is not a club in crisis. There are no player revolts, no disharmony on the terraces or uprising against the manager. It is just that they have been found wanting for quality in both penalty areas on too many occasions in matches in which they have played well.
Rafa Benitez, then, should be applauded for the January additions of goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and Chelsea winger Kenedy, who opened the scoring in the second minute and added another before half-time.
And the squad could well be enjoying a beer in Spain next weekend after all. Benitez had slapped a booze ban on their training camp in the Costa Blanca, fearing a repeat of West Brom’s ill-fated trip to Barcelona last month.
But they deserve a few drinks after this win lifted them five points clear of danger, and it will be loanee Kenedy to whom they raise a glass.
The 22-year-old Brazilian has injected pace, energy and attacking intent into a side who looked to be heading for the Championship such was their inability to win matches.
Newcastle are up to 13th and, while they are still at least two more victories shy of survival, this felt like a significant afternoon.
Benitez said: ‘We needed to start with intensity and we did that. We were pushing and were aggressive. The commitment and work-rate was fantastic.’
Kenedy’s first Premier League goal for Chelsea two years ago came after 39 seconds of a game at Norwich, so this was sluggish by comparison.
This contest was a full 63 seconds old when he opened his account for the Magpies, and what a goal it was.
Jonjo Shelvey dropped a high pass behind Southampton’s backline but Kenedy had no right to score from the position in which he accepted the ball on his chest with his back to goal 12 yards out. He had a plan, though, and used his upper torso to steer the ball away from minder Cedric Soares before spinning and hooking into the bottom corner.
Benitez said: ‘He’s a different kind of player, comfortable on the ball with a good delivery, passing and shooting. He is still young and is improving. He has the potential to grow and be much better, that’s the challenge for him now.’
It should have been two just three minutes later when Shelvey swept another delivery the wrong side of Southampton’s static defence but Dwight Gayle misfired.
So when Gayle found himself clear inside the penalty area on 29 minutes it was little surprise he squared for Kenedy, allowing his team-mate to roll home from three yards.
Kenedy had a hat-trick chance early in the second half but his right boot did not prove as trusty as his left and he lashed wide from the edge of the area.
But it was from an identical position on 57 minutes that Matt Ritchie showed his fellow winger how it should be done, guiding into the bottom corner after fine work from Shelvey, again.
Kenedy and Shelvey then left to a standing ovation, and how they had deserved that recognition after brightening a drizzly and overcast Tyneside afternoon. The team’s reward might yet be a beer in the sun.
Go to the original article…
...thumpingly sculpted by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
| 
| 
| 
| 
|