Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce admitted his job came with a health warning after watching his nine men hang on to beat Southampton.
The 60-year-old, who has been under intense pressure after a run of one win in 13 games in all competitions, saw the Magpies scrap their way to a 3-2 victory despite losing midfielder Jeff Hendrick to a red card and defender Fabian Schar to injury with all three substitutes having been used.
Asked about his emotions during an eventful afternoon, Bruce said: "A mate of mine said when I took the job that it came with a health hazard.
"The two minutes just after half-time summed it up, where we could have gone 4-1 up and looked very, very rosy indeed. Instead within a minute, it's 3-2 and we're down to 10 men. The last half an hour is awful, to be brutally honest."
Newcastle scored three in the first half of a top-flight match for the first time since 2015 to lead 3-1 at the break, with Miguel Almiron netting twice after the opener from Joe Willock on his debut.
Takumi Minamino, another player making his debut after a deadline-day move, replied for Southampton for 2-1, and the visitors pulled it back to a one-goal deficit again when James Ward-Prowse scored off a stunning 30-metre free-kick just after half-time.
Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl, whose team had lost 9-0 at Manchester United on Tuesday, said: "It's easy to sum up – defensively not good enough for the Premier League, again."
