Newcastle United's hopes of Premier League survival have taken another dent following a 3-1 defeat away at Southampton on Saturday afternoon.
The Magpies fell behind early on and never truly recovered, as a three-goal deficit with just 10 minutes of the second half played proved too much to overcome in the end.
Andros Townsend did manage to pull one back for the seemingly doomed Magpies, but it was ultimately too little too late in the end, leaving United six points from safety after a ninth away defeat on the spin.
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It took the hosts just 90 seconds to register their first attempt on target, as an unmarked Virgil van Dijk headed the ball down to Graziano Pelle, who was unable to force Karl Darlow into anything more than a routine stop.
Less than two minutes later the ball was in the back of the net, though, after some comical defending from the Magpies allowed Shane Long to simply waltz his way through and tuck home in the simplest manner.
That looked to be a sign of things to come but, despite truly dominating the flow of the opening 45 minutes, Southampton struggled to ask too many questions of stand-in stopper Darlow.
Van Dijk, Pelle and Long all took on shots from 25 yards out which flew well wide of the goal, while Dusan Tadic could not build on his goalscoring tally when picked out by Sadio Mane inside the box.
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The Serbia international, with five league goals to his name this term, took too long to get the ball out of his feet before eventually smashing it into a sea of black and white shirts.
A dismal first-half showing from United was summed up by their only shot of the half, with Ayoze Perez picking out Saints defender Jose Fonte and not the target.
Southampton had a deserved second prior to the break when a costly Daryl Janmaat slip, which would see him replaced through injury soon after, allowed Pelle to get on the end of a poor Long touch to delicately tuck the ball beyond Darlow's reach.
Rafael Benitez was forced into a second enforced alteration at the interval, bringing on Jamaal Lascelles in place of the injured Steven Taylor, yet the visitors' fortunes did not change in the second 45.
Yet more slack defending, this time from a short corner which Mane picked up to burst into the box, led to the Saints' third goal of the afternoon as Victor Wanyama smashed home for his first of the season after Darlow kept out Pelle's initial shot.
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It may have taken an hour of the match, but that third goal finally sparked Newcastle into action thanks to a couple of shots from Perez and the previously quiet Townsend to force Forster into action at long last.
Townsend did at least give the travelling Toon Army faithful something to cheer on their long trek back north, cutting inside into a central position and sending a rocket of a strike into the top corner of the net.
Mane could have opened the three-goal advantage back up had he played his cards right 15 minutes from time, although curling a shot wide of the far post proved the wrong option in the end with substitute James Ward-Prowse alongside him.
Home supporters had even more reason to be cheerful in the closing stages when Jay Rodriguez was introduced for his first appearance in six months, but the game had long since petered out to ensure that the Saints remain in the hunt for a top-five finish.
Daniel Lewis
