SOUTHAMPTON: Eddie Howe admits he is refusing to look at the Premier League table but takes Pep Guardiola’s “title race” comments as a compliment.
The Magpies romped to yet another away-day victory on the south coast of England as they hammered relegation-threatened Southampton 4-1.
Goals from Miguel Almiron, Chris Wood, Joe Willock and Bruno Guimaraes ensured United made it six wins out of seven in the top flight, and ended the weekend in the top three of the Premier League. Romain Perraud netted a consolation for Saints.
Despite that, Howe has revealed he is not looking at the standings after 14 games, even though many others, including the established elites, are definitely taking note.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’ll probably see it but I don’t tend to analyze it and focus on it too much. It’s not really important at this stage of the season,” he said. “What’s important for me is that we turn up against Crystal Palace and try to win the game.”
When asked about Manchester City boss Guardiola’s comments explicitly, Howe said: “I didn’t see those comments. Pep is someone I respect immensely. I’m not sure whether it’s an honest reflection that he’s given or whether he’s just trying to put more pressure on us. It’s difficult without the context of the interview he’s given but he’s someone I respect, so thank you Pep.
“We’re trying to savor what we’re doing at the moment and enjoy the process of going into the next game in a healthy position, but as we know in football, there are no guarantees. As I said right at the start (of the press conference), things can change very quickly. So let’s enjoy what we’re doing and focus on trying to achieve more in the future.”
Howe made just the one enforced change to his United XI. With Joelinton suspended, in came Jacob Murphy on the left of Newcastle’s frontline.
It was on the other side, the right, as ever, where the Magpies’ main threat stemmed from, however, with skipper Kieran Trippier and Almiron prominent.
Callum Wilson was a whisker away from opening the scoring after just a few minutes, with United quickest out of the blocks, but a slick move with Trippier, Willock and Longstaff all involved saw a cross miss the left peg of the England hopeful by inches.
Wilson again went close when he volleyed one from the edge of the area wide after referee Stuart Attwell refused to give what looked like a clear handball from Mohammed Salisu during the build-up.
It mattered little in the grand scheme of things, though, as this version is clinical and incisive, even when they are not at their best, which they were not on the south coast.
The opener came when Longstaff pinged a ball into Wilson, who flicked away while under pressure, releasing Almiron who opened his legs as few others at this level can before somehow bundling his way past Ainsley Maitland-Niles and tucking past Gavin Bazunu with the aplomb of a seasoned Premier League forward, which he is actually, unexpectedly, proving himself to be this season.
As aforementioned, this was far from vintage Howe’s Newcastle. And Saints can easily make a claim to say they deserved something, even though the scoreline suggested otherwise.
The biggest moment for them came as the clock ticked over to halftime — Stuart Armstrong found space on the right before delivering an inch-perfect cross into Mohamed Elyounoussi, but the wideman’s effort somehow went wide, when he had the goal at his mercy. It was a miss that Ralph Hassenhuttl’s men would come to rue.
Norwegian international Elyounoussi fired one over at the start of the second period, and James Ward-Prowse tested the rarely troubled Nick Pope with a long-range free kick as Saints knocked at the door.
But, just as good teams do, United popped the Southampton bubble with a clinical finish from Chris Wood.
A Murphy run was halted by the Saints backline but Wood, on for Wilson, who was struggling with an illness, turned and swept home in one movement to net his first goal from open play since his last visit to Southampton with United last season.
Within the blink of an eye it was 3-0 as a swift counter, after some sharp work by Guimaraes, set Trippier away, and having beaten his man he threaded through to Willock who toe-poked in the third.
Some sharp work by Perraud at the other end, as he cut in from the left and beat Pope with a powerful drive with his right, reduced the arrears, but Guimaraes was to have the last laugh, curling in number four in added time to make sure all three points were black and white.
It was far from United’s fluent best, but Howe is happy to win ugly.
“It does (feel good) because you know you can not be at your best and still win,” said the head coach.
“I do think that’s an important quality your team needs to have to be successful. This season, the majority of our performances have been of a very high level consistently. You go back to the Bournemouth and Crystal Palace games that we dominated and didn’t win. When you’re not at your best levels, and we were off it today, to win by the margin and way we did is hugely satisfying and should give us even more confidence of what can lay ahead for us.”
Meanwhile, Howe has played down England injury fears with the news that Trippier and Wilson will be fit, if selected by Gareth Southgate, who was an interested spectator at St. Mary’s Stadium.
“Callum was unwell in the week but declared himself fit to play today. He felt a little light-headed at halftime,” said Howe of his frontman.
“I think he’s fine physically but is suffering from a bit of illness. We withdrew him, and Chris came on and scored a great goal for us.
“I’m not sure what happened in terms of him getting treatment with Kieran. He said he was fine at halftime to carry on. It was my decision to withdraw him at 3-0 just to protect him.”