As the advertisements on the electronic pitchside hoardings made one of their frequent switches to Arabic, Southampton briefly resembled flummoxed European tourists lost in the back streets of Jeddah.
Out on that pitch Newcastle were pressing Russell Martin’s newly promoted team so hard it seemed they were playing football in an entirely different, almost unfathomable, language.
The Southampton manager’s body language became increasingly agitated but then, almost imperceptibly, Will Smallbone started conjuring a bit of time on the ball in midfield and everything began making perfect sense.
Granted, they ultimately departed Tyneside empty handed after the rare defensive mistake that prefaced Joelinton’s opportunistic winner. But even before Fabian Schär’s 30th-minute sending off reduced Eddie Howe’s side to 10 men, Southampton had started to dominate possession.
“We had enough chances to win,” said Martin. “We made one mistake and paid the price. There’s disappointment and frustration but I’m so proud of our bravery.”
Tellingly, after Southampton had weathered an opening few minutes so torrid they looked in real peril of being steamrollered into submission, the first two chances fell their way. No matter that both were miscued by Smallbone – with the second turned into the net by an offside Jack Stephens and promptly disallowed – Howe suddenly looked rattled.
The Newcastle manager’s afternoon took a further turn for the worse when the normally sensible Switzerland-centre half Schär was shown a straight red card after he was provoked into a head-butt by Ben Brereton Díaz.
Admittedly it was more gentle nudge than violent butt and Brereton Díaz’s subsequent am-dram collapse was as hammy as they come. But Schär’s forehead clearly made contact with the forward’s face and dismissal was the only possible punishment.
Howe suggested the rules can be overly harsh in such circumstances. “The big question is, do you want to see a red card for that?” he said, refusing to rule out an appeal. “Does Fabi’s action warrant a red card? I’m not sure. I think it was really harsh. Contact was minimal.
“But in a strange way, the crowd’s sense of injustice helped us get back into the game. We had our backs to the wall at the time and needed something to galvanise us. It got the crowd to inspire us and that made a difference.”
Martin was rather less equivocal. “When Schär leans in with his head the opponent is going to make the most of it,” he said. “It’s a moment of madness. It has to be a red card.”
Schär’s impending three-match suspension, after he lost control when Brereton Díaz, who was also booked, barged him over from behind, can only amplify Howe’s frustration at Crystal Palace’s decision to reject four separate bids for their £70m-valued England centre-half Marc Guéhi.
At least Howe has Joelinton on his side. With half-time beckoning, the Brazil midfielder gave his side an unlikely lead after the Southampton goalkeeper, Alex McCarthy, passed the ball straight to Alexander Isak as the visitors endeavoured to play out from the back under pressure. The Sweden striker endured a quiet afternoon but smartly picked Joelinton out with a neat lay-off.
His teammate Dan Burn looked ready to pick a fight in the tunnel at the interval and, with Burn having waited for Brereton Díaz to appear, a bout of argy-bargy erupted between the defender and Jan Bednarek.
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Evidently undeterred, Brereton Díaz opened the second half by missing a sitter after Lewis Hall cleared the former Newcastle striker Adam Armstrong’s shot off the line. Shortly afterwards Nick Pope did extremely well to palm another Armstrong shot over the crossbar as Southampton enjoyed a spell of more than 80% possession.
Unimpressed, Howe’s 10 men appeared on a mission to suggest that possession can sometimes be overrated. Defending obdurately while time-wasting whenever possible, they revelled in thwarting every visiting manoeuvre. Indeed, with Burn, Joelinton, Sean Longstaff and the outstanding Bruno Guimarães in particularly bloody-minded mood, Martin’s team received a harsh reintroduction to Premier League life.
“A massive win for us,” said Howe. “We saw how good Southampton are with the ball, they’re a very, very good team. It wasn’t enjoyable for me and we could have been better in possession but the 10 men produced a really good defensive performance, blocking shots and covering space really well.
“Everyone was standing up for each other. We had that ‘no one’s going to break us’ mentality we’re going to need this season.”
