(41 mins Matt Ritchie penalty saved)

Half time: Saints 0 Magpies 0

79 mins Surrounded by a posse of players, Joelinton shepherded the ball back from the right hand touchline towards substitute Sean Longstaff, who swept a diagonal first-time pass infield from just inside the Saints half.

It looked to be too far ahead of any colleague, but Yan Valery crucially killed the momentum of the ball by clumsily chesting it down as he jogged towards his own goal. Allan Saint-Maximin sped past the defender and took a couple of touches before prodding home from eight yards via a post. 1-0

In the words of Richie Benaud - there's his flipper

Come on you boy in green

Full time: Saints 0 Magpies 1
 

"The penalty is a blatant handball. I didn’t see it at the time, I have to be honest. But, it's a stonewall penalty.
 
"Why’s everybody getting their knickers in a twist? The decisions are right.

"VAR and the referee got it right it’s a bad challenge and could damage Isaac (Hayden). It’s damaged him, slightly, but not as badly as we thought. The boy is over the top of the ball.

"We have a had a tough time, but it's been a good week. There is a marked improvement.

"The three players brought in in January have helped us. It has been difficult, but 35 points with eight (games) to go is good (it's actually nine).

"It's another one off, we are back running and again and it's decent.

"I said when (Allan) Saint-Maximin walked in he will excite people. His natural ability is scary. He has a bit to learn too, and if he does, if he sorts the other bits out, we have a hell of a player on our hands.

"He is always a threat, wants to get past you and that is a dying art. He has that natural ability in abundance."

On Matt Ritchie:

"I’ve seen Ritchie smash them in, in training, and demanding that he’s the penalty taker, like he demands everything! And he’s missed. It happens to the best of us. I didn’t watch it.”

On Martin Dubravka:

"(He) got a whack, but we think he’s going to be OK.”
 
 

They Said

Ralph Hasenhuttl said:

"I want to say, the atmosphere today was fantastic.

"The fans were unbelievable, they really pushed us and really helped us a lot with this fight, in the second half especially.

"I cannot criticise my team for not doing everything, they left everything on the pitch. It was a good performance on our side.

"We tried to stop the opponent and we did it for a long time but then one mistake can decide the game. I didn’t have the feeling that they had a game plan, an idea of how they were going to score.

"We defended well, we were very compact and close to centre. The distances between the lines and the players was very good and it helped us to win a lot of balls in front of our box and had a few counter attack chances also.

"I think the most important thing was that we were more committed today and we had an understanding about us that we should have in every home game.

"It was a very good performance in the second half, but in the end the result is the only thing that is necessary and it’s what we don’t have.”
 

Allan Saint-Maximin ended United's prolonged goal drought and secured three valuable points with a rare win at St. Mary's on Saturday.

A defensive blunder allowed him to poke the ball past Alex McCarthy with eleven minutes remaining for our first Premier League goal in 439 minutes since fellow countryman Florian Lejeune netted at Goodison 46 days earlier.

Saint-Maximin was the only change to the starting line-up from Saturday's home draw with Burnley, Joelinton dropping to the bench as a consequence.

His second Premier League goal came as a massive relief to a green-clad Magpies side, who had struggled to find a way through the home ranks, despite enjoying numerical advantage from the 28th minute onwards.

At that point Moussa Djenepo was cautioned by referee Graham Scott for a reckless challenge on Isaac Hayden, but after a VAR call the referee viewed reruns on a pitchside monitor before upgrading the yellow to a red.

Jamaal Lascelles then saw an effort ruled out for offisde before VAR played a pivotal role in the contest for a second time, remote official Peter Bankes spotted a 41st minute handball by Sofiane Boufal in his own box.

To the delight of the travelling support, Scott belatedly pointed to the spot - only for McCarthy to dive to his left and turn away Matt Ritchie's penalty.

Half time somehow arrived with the game goalless; the penalty save only one of a host of gilt-edged chances made and missed by the visitors.

After a succession of early home corners came to nothing, Jonjo Shelvey's cross from the right prompted an incredible treble by McCarthy, denying Dwight Gayle (with his thighs) and Miguel Almiron (with his hands, twice) from barely six yards out.

Gayle then saw his 31st minute header saved before taking a left wing cross from Saint-Maximin three minutes later and wastefully blasting wide.

Despite that profligacy, United still seemed certain to take three points from the side with the highest number of home defeats and home goals conceded.

However Steve Bruce's side made heavy weather of securing what was a first league win in six outings and their fourth success on the road this season.

Despite constant possession in the second period, United lacked both threat and inspiration; aimlessly playing a succession of sideways passes, as yet another frustrating scoreless draw began to look inevitable.

At the other end, a rare home foray ended with Martin Dubravka in need of lengthy treatment after clashing with Danny Ings just before the hour mark.

The visiting custodian was hobbling visibly thereafter and Karl Darlow was sent out to warm up for some minutes. However United chose to use their second and third allotted replacements with outfield players and thankfully weren't caught out.

Southampton attempted to run the clock down but belatedly shot themselves in the foot on 79 minutes; Yan Valery hesitating and allowing Saint-Maximin to nip past him before tucking the ball home via a post.

That goal - and his acrobatic celebration - came in front of an away support who had roared their side on all afternoon and loudly celebrated a first Toon victory here since 2005.

The benefit of taking three points from the Saints was enhanced by defeats elsewhere for West Ham, Watford, Bournemouth and Norwich plus a draw for Brighton - all of which gave the Premier League table a much better look by Saturday night.

That's 35 points for us and the gap to 18th-placed Bournemouth is a healthy eight points, Aston Villa now the only team below us with games in hand.

In contrast to our other single goal victories this season when United have been inferior in possession terms, today saw Bruce's side clearly dominate and superficially justify his decision to dispense with five at the back. And going into the final stages we even played with a front four. Badly.

However the lack of creativity evident when in the ascendancy remains a concern; in simple terms, given ample opportunity to express themselves, they fluffed their lines and looked bereft of inspiration. VAR gave them a numerical advantage and free hit at goal and we still struggled to score.

Ritchie's penalty miss made it a day to forget for the player born barely 20 miles along the coast, but fellow contract beneficiary Jonjo Shelvey faded visibly after the restart when it looked set up for him.

As others have remarked, the fact that both players acquired three year extensions that take them into the red zone for player ages says much about the strength of Bruce's position here. Three points today reduces our risk of relegation further, but were we to do down, the Head Coach wouldn't change.

With Joelinton no more effective from the bench than when starting, it was left to Saint-Maximin to hit the vital shot - McCarthy's main involvement in the second half picking that ball out of his net.

Scoring that goal on the birthday of former favourite Hatem Ben Arfa led to some comparisons between the two French ball jugglers. While their styles may differ in some respects, the excitement and unpredictability that both brought to an austere United side cannot be underestimated.

Justifiable questions over the Joelinton signing have been asked, but while his value has plummeted that same scouting department brought in Saint-Maximin for a comparative pittance. At this club though, that sort of business only has a benefit if it's followed by a sale.

An enjoyable day and scoreline, but there's not much else beyond that.  

Biffa