Alan Shearer's 'brilliant' verdict as Newcastle United beat Southampton

Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has praised Eddie Howe's side for a 'brilliant' display in their victory against Southampton. The Magpies pulled 10 points clear of the relegation zone with a 2-1 victory on Thursday night.

Howe made one change to the starting line-up at St Mary's, with Bruno Guimaraes making his first start in black-and-white in place of the injured Joelinton. Allan Saint-Maximin missed out on the matchday squad through illness.

The visitors made a confident start, but it was the Saints who took the lead after Stuart Armstrong's header was deflected past Martin Dubravka. However, Newcastle equalised seven minutes later when Chris Wood netted his first United goal after guiding Jonjo Shelvey's cross into the net.

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It was fellow January signing Guimaraes who settled the contest shortly after the interval. The former Lyon midfielder reacted superbly to backheel Dan Burn's knockdown into the roof of the net.

Newcatle's latest win extended their unbeaten top-flight run to nine matches, and it was another resolute display which attracted praise from record goalscorer Shearer.

He posted: "What a shift that was from the Toon. 3300 amazing fans travel all that way on a Thursday night. Brilliant."