Sven Botman was denied another Newcastle United clean sheet on Sunday – and he was not very happy about it.
The Magpies trounced Southampton 4-1 at St Mary’s, bagging another three points to move them up to third in the Premier League.
The win, combined with Manchester United’s defeat at Aston Villa, means we will definitely be in the top four going into the break for the World Cup.
While it wasn’t Newcastle’s best performance, we did enough to secure another emphatic victory by a big margin. It’s the fourth time this season that we’ve scored four or more goals in a single game.
The goals we scored were fantastic, but the foundation of our brilliant form has been our defensive record. We have conceded 11 goals this season, the joint fewest with league leaders Arsenal.
However, it should be just 10 goals conceded. And the 11th left Botman raging down on the south coast.
How Sven Botman reacted to Southampton scoring
With Newcastle leading 3-0, Eddie Howe made multiple changes. It saw the Magpies briefly lose their shape in the 89th minute, and Southampton capitalised.
There was a gaping hole on the right of Newcastle’s defence, which allowed Mohammed Salisu to play Romain Perraud through on goal.
The French defender managed to skip past Dan Burn’s challenge, before firing a right-footed effort beyond a helpless Nick Pope.
Newcastle’s clean sheet was gone, and Botman was furious. As the ball hits the back of the net, the £35million man can be seen flapping his arms and jumping in frustration. There was also an angry wave of the arm by Fabian Schar, who was massively out of position.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Newcastle scored a fourth to restore their three-goal lead. However, Botman’s reaction sums up the elite mentality that he has as a defender.
If his team keeps a clean sheet, he’s done his job. However, he was robbed of that on Sunday by a lapse in concentration. I’m not sure how Newcastle were so open – Javi Manquillo was on the opposite side of the pitch while Schar wasn’t even in the penalty box.
Regardless, it was an avoidable goal that cost Newcastle a clean sheet. That should have been the main objective once Howe’s side raced into a three-goal lead.
There was anger and disappointment from the Toon defenders, and rightly so. And it’s excellent to see that kind of mentality even though the game was won.