Southampton were unable to capitalise on a fantastic start as they were beaten 4-2 in a relegation thriller at St James' Park.
With much of the focus on this afternoon's League Cup Final and Manchester City's victory over Chelsea earlier in the day, this key relegation battle went somewhat under the radar, but those who were in attendance certainly got their money's worth.
The first goal of this contest came after just 3 minutes when Morgan Schneiderlin looked to continue his side's decent run of form as he lashed home an emphatic finish to put Southampton 1-0 ahead. A Frenchman scoring against Newcastle!
It was one of Alan Pardew's January Ligue 1 recruits who levelled matters just past the half hour mark; Moussa Sissoko followed in after Yoann Gouffran's shot was only parried out by Artur Boruc to make it 1-1.
Newcastle's form has been steadily improving since their January spending spree (they've won 3 of their last 4 in the league) and they began to dominante proceedings once they'd scored. Their second goal was a goal of the season contender as Papiss Cisse sent a spectacular 25 yard effort flying past Boruc. The Senegalese striker has found lift more difficult during his second season in England but this particular strike brought back memories of Cisse at his best from last season.
Player of the season so far for Southampton has probably been Ricky Lambert, and he once again showed how important he is to Mauricio Pochettino's plans by equalising for the Saints just after the break. It was his 100th goal for the club, coming courtesy of a fine cross from Adam Lallana.
The South Coast side came to life after that as Lambert and Lallana both came close to putting them back into the lead, but it was the home side who scored the next goal when Danny Fox handled a Matieu Debuchy cross in the penalty area and Yohan Cabaye confidently dispatched the resulting penalty.
In fairness, the goal did little to dampen Southampton's spirit and they came agonisingly close to equalising once again only for Gaston Ramirez to smash the crossbar. His miss, however, was to prove costly as Newcastle went up the other end soon after and scored a 4th to seal the 3 points. A poor clearance from a Davide Santon cross cannoned off Jos Hooiveld and went into his own net.
The result leaves Newcastle 6 points clear of the relegation zone, whilst Southampton have just a 3 point cushion as they were brought back down to Earth after their win over Manchester City last time out.
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