Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
JINKY AND PERKY
Allan says Toon fans have the patience of a Saint after killing off Saints
ALLAN SAINT-MAXIMIN saluted the patience of Newcastle fans after killing off Saints.
Newcastle’s forwards have too often lost their nerve in front of goal in the Premier League this season.
In the FA Cup, no problem. The Toon have banged in six goals in their last two games.
But in the league, a Newcastle striker in front of goal will suddenly come to a halt with a puzzled look on his face, his eyes will glaze over, he will turn, and wander off towards the corner flag.
They were at it again at St Mary’s. Point-blank misses, superb saves from heroic Southampton goalkeeper Alex Mccarthy, and even a missed penalty.
And then along came Frenchman Saint-maximin, 11 minutes from time, to break Southampton hearts
It was Newcastle’s first Premier League goal in seven hours and 19 minutes of football. Think how much grouting of your bathroom tiles you could get done in that time.
“I give this goal to the fans,” said Saint-maximin.
“Because they travel and do everything for us.
“It’s difficult in the head when you do everything to score. But we kept going.
“I kept running to press and sometimes you get lucky. I just had to run and finish well. We are still in the cup and with this win we have 35 points. We are in a good position.”
There had been reports that Saint-maximin, 22, had had a fall-out with manager Steve
Bruce after being left out against Burnley.
But the winger (with Bruce, below) said: “It is normal when you don’t play you are not happy. But I played in the Cup, and now I give a win to my team. I’m happy.”
Bruce compares him to 70s Toon legend ‘Jinky’ Jimmy Smith (below).
“Buy a ticket and come and watch him. He’s a bit different,” said Bruce “Everything with him is totally natural. He has got frightening pace and wants to beat you. He’s like Jinky Jimmy Smith.” And Bruce shot down reports of a bust-up with his match-winner.
“There has been a lot of nonsense written to derail us,” he said.
“To have one of our players supposed to be unhappy, or I’ve had a fall-out with him – it’s not true.”
Dwight Gayle could have had a first-half hattick, twice being foiled by Mccarthy and missing from six yards. Miguel Almiron was also guilty of two wasted chances.
Southampton’s cause was not helped by having Moussa Djenepo sent off midway through the first half for an ugly foul on on Isaac Hayden, his yellow card upgraded to a red by VAR. And three minutes before half-time VAR, which did everything it could for Toon, was involved again, awarding Newcastle a penalty after Sofiane Boufal handled.
Obviously, Mccarthy saved Matt Ritchie’s spot-kick. Situation normal.
But with the clock ticking down, Yan Valery miscontrolled and Saint-maximin was onto it in a flash before jabbing the ball in off the post. Heartbreak for 10-man Saints – but for Bruce, probably one win from safety now.