Guimaraes’ magic silences Hasenhuttl and Southampton as Newcastle edge to safety

SOUTHAMPTON: It was a piece of pure magic, forged in the heat of the January transfer window, and executed right under the nose of Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Revenge is best served, not cold, but full of Brazilian spice — and for Newcastle United, on a seasonally warm night on the south coast of England, four of their five January transfer window signings silenced their biggest winter window critic by claiming all three points at St Mary’s.

When this game was first set to be played — on January 2 — the Magpies were deep in the relegation mire.

With one win all season their Premier League prognosis was grim. Southampton’s wasn’t all that much better, to be honest.

However, when COVID-19 swept through the Newcastle squad and Eddie Howe’s request to have the game called off was granted, the decision enraged Hasenhuttl.

He seethed: “I was disappointed we couldn’t play. I don’t think it is really fair for them (new signings) to play in games that have been postponed. We should think about it because of the integrity of the league.”

Doubling down, and taking the bait again, earlier this week, Hasenhuttl bristled: “(It is) strange now to concentrate on a game you should have played two months ago against a completely different team.”

Newcastle signed five players in winter trading — and four of those combined to ensure all three points took Howe’s men a remarkable 10 points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

While Chris Wood netted the equalizer, his first goal for the Magpies, following a fortuitous Stuart Armstrong opener, they saved their best till last as Bruno Guimaraes, making his first start in English football, ghosted into a crowded home area to produce a backheel volley that announced himself to the English