Right, that’s it from me. Thanks for your company and your emails and tweets. I’ll leave you with another plug for Ben’s report:
Proud moment. Great to see my beloved club Saintsfc top of the league👏❤️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/xFQvLfGxVp
— Claus Lundekvam (@SaintSkipper5) November 6, 2020
Here’s Theo Walcott: “It’s an absolutely fantastic achievement,” he says of their lofty perch. “To be part of this is an absolute honour.” He sounds like he’s enjoying his football again, and why not?
Here’s Ben Fisher’s on-the-whistle report from St Mary’s.
Well, that was about as emphatic as a 2-0 can get. Southampton were probably worth double that. For Newcastle it’s a night to forget.
Full-time: Southampton 2-0 Newcastle
Peep! PEEP! PEEEEEEP!!! All over at St Mary’s Southampton go top of the top tier for the first time in 32 years!
90+3 min: So close to 3-0! Armstrong hammers a shot at goal and Darlow almost makes a mess of things as the ball dips dangerously.
90+2 min: Southampton are happy enough just to pop the ball around and run out time.
90 min: A minimum of three minutes to be added.
89 min: Sean Longstaff goes into the book for a clothesline-from-hell on Ward-Prowse. Newcastle are at the point where they just want this evening to end.
88 min: Another change for Saints: Walcott off, Long on.
86 min: What a save! McCarthy has had almost nothing to do all evening yet he springs across to claw away Joelinton’s brilliant header from Lewis’s vicious cross.
83 min: Walcott, who has been excellent, roars forward from halfway with Newcastle players trailing after him like a tail on a comet. He loses possession on the edge of the box but Sean Longstaff is horrendously sloppy on the edge of the box – Armstrong nips the ball away, shimmies himself a yard of shooting space, and fires low past Darlow. That should be that.
GOAL! Southampton 2-0 Newcastle (Armstrong 82)
Finally.
Updated
80 min: Saint-Maximin gets gingerly to his feet after a collision with Bednarek but seems OK to carry on.
78 min: Steve Bruce rolls the dice and Newcastle make a double substitution. Carroll replaces the ineffectual Wilson, Joelinton is on for Murphy.
77 min: Walcott is OK to continue.
76 min: Lascelles certainly got a faint flick on the ball, which is probably what saved him despite his follow-through taking him forcefully into the attacker.
75 min: Lascelles makes a recovery tackle as Armstrong rolls the ball into the onrushing Walcott. Walcott has taken a whack … but VAR says no. Though the replays look a bit, well, penaltyish.
Updated
74 min: Saint-Maximin looks to dink a pass in to Almiron, who has made a burst forward, but it’s touch too heavy.
73 min: Redmond replaces Djenepo for Southampton.
71 min: Fernandez gets a vital foot in and Walcott looks to latch on to Djenepo’s pass, but the latter wins a free-kick over on the Southampton left.
70 min: … Murphy pings his effort into the foreheads of those in the wall.
Updated
69 min: Armstrong handles 25 yards from his own goal. Dangerous free-kick this for the visitors …
67 min: Saint-Maximin gets a rare touch of the ball but is crowded out by four Southampton defenders.
65 min: Newcastle finally get a foothold and some possession. Though Matty Longstaff’s errant pass puts an end to that.
63 min: … fine save from Darlow! Bednarek meets Ward-Prowse’s corner at the near post but his header is pawed away by the goalkeeper.
Updated
62 min: Armstrong can’t quite find Walcott in the middle. It’s another corner. A second Saints goal feels inevitable at this point …
61 min: And speaking of jeffing, Jeff Hendrick’s evening is over – Matty Longstaff comes on to replace him in the Newcastle engine room.
60 min: Ward-Prowse rumbles forward this time and feeds Djenepo. He goes down under Murphy’s challenge but the referee waves away the penalty shouts. Cue much audible effing and jeffing.
59 min: Pass, pass, pass from Southampton. Passpasspasspasspass.
57 min: Djenepo wins his team yet another corner (after an offside call that would very much have been VARed had he scored). But the corner comes to nothing so no harm done.
55 min: Feels like Newcastle need to do something to change the flow of the game. Time for a bit of Andy Carroll?
54 min: Adams does well to hold the ball up and slips it through to Armstrong, who is offside.
52 min: Romeu hits the bar! His thunderous effort from distance is brilliantly tipped onto the woodwork by Darlow.
51 min: … how has this stayed out?!? Vestergaard has a free header at the back post but inexplicably heads across goal. It drops to Bednarek who hammers the ball at goal where it is headed off the line by Lascelles.
Updated
50 min: Romeu’s effort is blocked but Saints have another corner …
49 min: Walcott, dropping deep as he has done to great effect throughout, picks up the ball, thunks a shot at goal and watches the deflection drift just wide. Corner …
48 min: Neither side seem to want the ball very much at the moment.
Confidence goal from Che Adams @John_Ashdown. Low on confidence, he checks back and lays it off; high on confidence, he shins it; peak in confidence, he sweet-spots it into the back of the net.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) November 6, 2020
If you could bottle it, you'd be a billionaire.
46 min: Djenepo skitters at the Newcastle defence but his run is halted on the edge of the area.
Peep! Off we go again then.
A half-time email: “As a Newcastle fan I am always a nervous wreck whenever Fabian Schär is in the side against a team who press well,” writes Shaun Wilkinson. “The guy is about 30% as good as he thinks he is and he always seems to be waiting for someone to take his picture when he is on the ball. He massively got away with one there against Che Adams.”
Half-time: Southampton 1-0 Newcastle
And here’s some reading for the interval:
Peep! PEEEEP! Half-time and Southampton have a deserved lead. Their only frustration will be that they’ve not got a bigger advantage. Still, as it stands, they’re heading top.
45 min: The referee blows for a foul on Schar who goes down under pressure from Adams. That was very, very soft and Adams would’ve been in had it not been given.
44 min: It’s not quite Ward-Prowse territory but he takes it, swinging the ball into the six yard box where Darlow punches away.
43 min: Lewis gets his feet tangled and Walcott whips the ball away. Fernandez slides in and concedes a free-kick on the corner of the box. He’s booked.
42 min: So close to 2-0! Djenepo does wonderfully to flick on Ward-Prowse’s pass, Walcott shimmies a yard of space but curls his shot just wide. That should’ve been two.
Updated
40 min: “I’m not an effing ballboy mate,” says someone on the sidelines as Stephens readies to take a throw-in. Sounded like the cameraman!
Updated
38 min: Wilson and Saint-Maximin haven’t really had a kick yet. Southampton’s backline have been well protected by the midfield.
36 min: “Too far AWAY!” comes the scream from the touchline, presumably aimed at Newcastle players who aren’t pressing tight enough.
34 min: … which isn’t a particularly great one from Ward-Prowse. Schar clears.
33 min: Fernandez gives the ball away oh-so-cheaply 30 yards from his own goal and he’s a touch fortunate that all Southampton earn from it is a corner …
32 min: A storming run by Murphy earns Newcastle 50, 60 yards on the right but Ward-Prowse battles back to end the attack.
31 min: “Hey, foul!” shouts Che Adams as the ball rolls out of play for a goal kick. Nothing doing.
29 min: A lovely little flick from Armstrong has Ward-Prowse bearing down on the Newcastle back four but the England midfielder’s pass is straight to a defender. That was a missed opportunity.
27 min: Newcastle break and Romeu thunders into Saint-Maximin to concede a free-kick and pick up the first yellow card of the game.
26 min: Djenepo sees his shot blocked on the edge of the area.
24 min: Good work from Almiron on this occasion, nipping the ball away from the onrushing Armstrong.
23 min: Much better this time from Lewis and Longstaff really should score but plants his header straight at McCarthy from eight yards out.
Updated
22 min: Newcastle work the ball out from the back nicely but Lewis’s cross is a bit hit-and-hope.
20 min: Another Newcastle corner is swung in by Longstaff but it’s a mis-hit to the near post and Saints clear.
19 min: … a bit of a flap from McCarthy but Lascelles can only glance the ball on rather than head at goal.
17 min: Stephens’ pass from the back is a poor one and is returned with interest straight to the feet of Callum Wilson. He should probably have a go himself but looks to feed Saint-Maximin and his pass is a poor one. Still, corner …
15 min: Romeu and Ward-Prowse are beginning to run the midfield, with Longstaff and Hendrick chasing shadows at the moment.
13 min: Romeu bundles Hendrick off the ball in midfield and releases Walcott. He skitters forward dangerously but his shot from 25 yards is wild and wide.
11 min: The goal has put a spring in Southampton’s step – Romeu finds space for a cross and finds Adams, who is also able to wriggle free though his shot lacks power.
10 min: Steve Bruce will be fuming – that wasn’t just Southampton’s first attack but the first time they’ve really had the ball in Newcastle’s half.
8 min: What a strike that was from Che Adams. He had just forced Darlow into a flying save with an effort from the edge of the box. Almiron picked up the loose ball and should really have cleared but a combo of Walcott and Walker-Peters picked his pocket. Walcott chipped a cross to Adams, who thundered his volley home.
Updated
GOAL! Southampton 1-0 Newcastle (Adams 7)
Well they’ve got a foothold now!
Updated
6 min: Southampton are really struggling to get a foothold so far, Newcastle’s press is working well.
4 min: Newcastle build the first thing resembling an attack, with Djenepo working hard to get back and deny Murphy space on the right.
3 min: It’s been a very scrappy opening couple of minutes, with both sides feeling their way into the game.
2 min: Another huge bang precedes Jeff Hendrick losing the ball in midfield.
1 min: A load of fireworks are being set off outside the ground, which adds a certain “atmosphere” to the opening seconds.
Peep! Off we go then. Newcastle get us under way.
And we have a minute of silence ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
Click-clack, click-clack … the players are in the tunnel. Newcastle are resplendent in bright yellow.
Here’s Tumaini’s match report from the Amex:
It’s full-time just along the south coast in Brighton, where the home side have been held to a 0-0 draw by visiting Burnley. The Clarets will be the happier with a point but that’s four games without a goal for Sean Dyche’s side.
A bit of pre-match reading: James Ward-Prowse gets into the nitty-gritty of his free-kick technique with David Hytner:
Amid all these ponderings about Saints going top, it should be remembered that Steve Bruce’s Newcastle have had a very decent start of their own and would catapult themselves into the top four and above the home side with a win of their own. And Newcastle have had the upper hand between these teams in the last few years – they won at St Mary’s in March to complete a Premier League double and haven’t lost on a visit to Southampton since 2016.
So Newcastle are unchanged from the win over Everton, while Southampton make a couple of changes – Ings and Bertrand are both out injured so Stephens and Djenepo come in.
Team news
Southampton: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Vestergaard, Stephens, Bednarek, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong, Djenepo, Walcott, Adams. Subs: Forster, Ramsay, Diallo, Tella, Redmond, Long, N’Lundulu.
Newcastle: Darlow, Murphy, Schär, Lascelles, Fernández, Lewis, Hendrick, Longstaff, Almirón, Saint-Maximin, Wilson. Subs: Gillespie, Clark, M Longstaff, Carroll, Joelinton, Hayden, Manquillo.
Preamble
Chris Nicholl, Ian Branfoot, Alan Ball, the Great Escape, Dave Merrington, the Great Escape II (Electric Boogaloo), Graeme Souness, Egil Ostenstad, Ali Dia, the Great Escape III (the Search for Spock), Dave Jones, Marian Pahars, the Great Escape IV (A New Hope), Glenn Hoddle, Stuart Gray, farewell to the Dell, Gordon Strachan, Paul Sturrock, Steve Wigley, Harry Redknapp, relegation, that weird time with Clive Woodward, George Burley, Gareth Bale, Nigel Pearson, Jan Poortvliet, Mark Wotte, relegation (again), administration, Alan Pardew, Rickie Lambert, JPT glory, Nigel Adkins, back-to-back promotions, Mauricio Pochettino, Ronald Koeman, Sadio Mané, the Europa League (play-offs), Claude Puel, Mauricio Pellegrino, Virgil van Dijk, Mark Hughes, the Great Escape V (The Final Frontier), and that 9-0 – quite a lot has happened at Southampton since the Saints last marched to the tippity top of the top-flight table.
But tonight they can hit those heights again for the first time in 32 years. Victory over Newcastle at St Mary’s will send Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side to the summit but they will have to win this battle of the surprise packages without Danny Ings, who could be facing six weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury.
Kick off is 8pm GMT.
