Southampton suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United due to an Ayoze Perez hat-trick.
This leaves the Saints still looking over their shoulder after they failed to increase their five-point buffer to Cardiff in the relegation zone.
Newcastle took the lead inside half an hour after the hosts made the most of the Saints’ slackness in possession which led to Perez slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
It was a quick-fire double for Perez who got on the end of a Salomon Rondon cross to make it 2-0.
Ralph Hasenhuttl made a double change at halftime with Mario Lemina and Stuart Armstrong coming on for Jack Stephens and Josh Sims.
The gaffer’s decision was rewarded on the hour mark when the two linked up to result in Lemina firing the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
The visitors continued to push for an equaliser with the improvement in the second-half notable.
Perez completed his hat-trick to seal the win with five minutes to play after deflecting a Matt Ritchie header into the back of the net.
Here’s how we rated the Southampton players:
