Match Summary

At 23’, Yoshinori Muto registered Newcastle’s 1st shot attempt of the match, which was an awkwardly taken after a right-spin with the left foot. By that moment, Southampton had already taken 4 shots, one of which forced Martin Dubravka into a tense situation. Possession had been split between each side evenly, and passing accuracy was also comparable. Yet the Saints were reliably breaking deep into Newcastle’s final third.

At 39’, Mario Lemina hit the woodwork. In the last 16 minutes, Newcastle had their 2nd shot attempt – a blocked shot from Kenedy. This divergence in shot volume and quality would continue: at halftime, shot attempt count was SOU 7-2 NEW, and the xG rating was SOU 0.4-0.1 NEW.

At 63’, the match had its first substitution, which saw Southampton’s Charlie Austin make way for Manolo Gabbiadini. At this point, the shot attempt count was SOU 13-3 NEW. Southampton had completed 6 dribbles to Newcastle’s lone one (DeAndre Yedlin in the 25’), and they had 50 more final third passes than NUFC.

At full time, the score was 0-0, but that was about all that was even between the two sides. Southampton owned the following: shots (22 to 6), key passes (20 to 5), shots on target (4 to 0), completed dribbles (9 to 2), xG rating (1.2 to 0.3), corners (7 to 2), and aerial duels won (29 to 22). Newcastle’s highest-rated shot attempt didn’t arrive until the 94th minute (via Rondon), and its xG rating was a paltry 0.13. It was a thoroughly anemic attacking display from the Magpies.