Nine-man Newcastle United hang on for gritty victory against Southampton

More frustration for Saints after they follow-up 9-0 thrashing by Manchester United with dismal defeat on Tyneside

Miguel Almiron celebrates after scoring Newcastle United's second goal, following a big deflection off Southampton defender Jan Bednarek . Getty

Newcastle United hung on for a 3-2 victory over Southampton despite finishing a rip-roaring Premier League contest with nine men at St James' Park on Saturday.

Southampton, who were hammered 9-0 at Manchester United midweek, found themselves 2-0 down after 25 minutes with Joe Willock netting on his Newcastle debut after joining on loan from Arsenal and a Miguel Almiron strike that took a huge deflection off Saints defender Jan Bednarek .

French attacker Allan Saint-Maximin, making his first start since November, was at the heart of both goals as he tormented the Southampton defence throughout the first period.

Takumi Minamino, making his debut on loan from Liverpool, lashed in a brilliant debut goal for the Saints only for Almiron to grab a second after goalkeeper Alex McCarthy's ill-judged pass to Ryan Bertrand was picked off by the Paraguayan, who took full advantage by drilling home a low shot to make it 3-1.

Defender Javier Manquillo and top-scorer Callum Wilson both limped off for the Magpies in the first half and were joined in the dressing room by midfielder Jeff Hendrick, who was shown a second yellow card shortly after James Ward-Prowse had pulled another goal back with a trademark free-kick into the top corner for Southampton.

Home defender Fabian Schar's premature departure through injury left his team down to nine men but, to their credit, battle-scarred Newcastle managed to hang on to claim just their second win in 14 attempts in all competitions against the odds on a filthy Tyneside afternoon.

"It was a big fight, a big push from the boys," said Willock after the match. "We went down to nine and we had to stick with it. The first half was brilliant. I'm delighted to be here and happy to win."

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl was blunt when he was asked after match whether his team deserved more from from the game. "No. The way we conceded the goals were far too easy and not the way to defend in the Premier League," he said.

"Tough to come back after that, scored twice and tried but when you defend like this it is hard to get points."

Brighton, meanwhile, were held to a 1-1 draw at Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday after a Johann Gudmundsson strike cancelled out a first half header from Lewis Dunk.

The Seagulls – who have won three of their last four games, including wins over Tottenham Hotspur and champions Liverpool – were forced to share the spoils after failing to hold on to a lead yet again this season but Dunk was satisfied with the result.

"If you'd offered me seven points at the start of this week I'd have snapped your hand off. It's been a good week," Dunk said.

"Even before when we weren’t picking up points, our performances were good. It’s nice to be getting those points now and to be heading in the right direction."