Red cards, scuffles and headbutts – inside Newcastle’s ill-tempered opening day clash

Newcastle United and Southampton played out an incredibly feisty encounter at St James’ Park in their Premier League season opener, with Fabian Schar sent off for a headbutt

Newcastle United and Southampton’s Premier League opener at St James’ Park had a bit of everything with the Magpies running out 1-0 winners against the Saints.

Just 28 minutes into the new season, Newcastle defender Fabian Schar and Southampton forward Ben Brereton Diaz got into an altercation, that saw the latter shove the former to the ground.

Incensed, Schar got to his feet to confront the Saints star, but in the heat of the moment, shoved his head into Brereton Diaz’s. The headbutt saw the Southampton striker fall to the ground rather softly.

The Swiss defender headed down the tunnel just before the half hour mark, clearly shocked he had been sent off in the Magpies Premier League opener. From there, Southampton seized the initiative in the game.

But try as they might, they couldn’t find a way through the Magpies defence, now dropping deeper and deeper. It was an error from Alex McCarthy right on the stroke of half-time saw the Saints goalkeeper misplace a pass straight to Alexander Isak of Newcastle, who squared the ball to team-mate Joelinton.

Prior to his conversion to a box-to-box midfielder, striker Joelinton would have likely ballooned the ball over the bar – or even hit himself in the face with his own shot like he did back in 2021.

However, the Newcastle midfielder cooly slotted home past McCarthy to give the Magpies the lead. The game could have finished very differently had Southampton managed to convert one of their host of chances.

Ironically, their best chance also fell to Brereton Diaz, who was substituted after missing an open net at the beginning of the second half.

And at half-time, tempers continued to spill over. Newcastle defender Dan Burn was pictured confronting a Southampton player heading down the St James’ Park tunnel. Prior to Schar’s sending off, Burn attempted to haul Brereton Diaz to his feet, clearly furious with the Southampton ace.

Speaking on Final Score, Fara Williams said: “Dan Burn is clearly very frustrated with the decision. It was a soft one and it was a correct one. He doesn’t need to do that. They are 1-0 up and in a good position.”

But it did not matter, Schar was sent off, and will miss the next three games for Newcastle – which could see them have to meet Crystal Palace’s asking price for defender Marc Guehi.

In the second half, Southampton pepper the Newcastle goal with a number of shots and corner’s into the box. But try as they might, they just could not breach the Magpies defence.

And when the final whistle went, St James’ Park erupted in celebration. Last season during their injury crisis, the Magpies might have lost that game. Instead, they ground out a 1-0 win, and will head to Bournemouth next weekend with confidence.