Ralph Hasenhuttl's nightmare came true on Thursday night. The Southampton boss had feared the impact Newcastle United's new signings would make against his side in last night's rearranged fixture and if Chris Wood scoring an equaliser was not bad enough, Bruno Guimaraes duly popped up with what proved to be the winner with an outrageous finish at St Mary's.
On a night where Southampton's stadium announcer played 'Dirty Cash', 'Can't Buy Me Love' and 'Money, Money, Money' over the public address system at half-time, Newcastle's mid-season signings all played their part in a priceless 2-1 victory. None more so than Bruno, who lit up this game with a stunning back-heeled goal in the second half, which was the perfect response to those taunts.
Newcastle have become the first side to win at St Mary's since October, moving 10 points clear of the relegation zone in the process, on a night where Leeds, Norwich and Watford all lost further ground on the Magpies. While Bruno's goal was special, this was a gutsy team performance after the visitors recovered from Stuart Armstrong's opener to equalise, take the lead and hang on to claim a spirited victory and extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to nine games.
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Newcastle again showed the grit and resilience that this side lacked not so long ago - even without the influential Callum Wilson, Kieran Trippier, Allan Saint-Maximin and Joelinton. It is one thing equalising seven minutes after going behind but to then take the lead and hold on? That was previously beyond a Newcastle side who threw away 21 points from winning positions earlier in the campaign.
Perhaps, no one quite summed up that win-at-all-costs mentality quite like Joe Willock. Willock may have effectively been playing as a number 10 when Howe switched to a 4-2-3-1 after Southampton opened the scoring, yet it was the midfielder who got back late on to help his team-mates and block Che Adams' close-range effort at the death. That spirit has been one of the secrets to Newcastle's remarkable turnaround.
It was an intervention that helped secure three points, rather than just one, after all, so was it any wonder that Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff celebrated like Willock had scored? There were similar scenes in the penalty area when Martin Dubravka, somehow, clawed away Mohammed Salisu's header in the 89th minute.
In his team talk before the game, stand-in skipper Jonjo Shelvey told those around him that they had to give that travelling support something to go home with after the noise they made in the warm-up. Well, they certainly did that.
It was hardly a vintage display, but it was hard to imagine Howe's side being able to muster a dogged performance like this when the original fixture was due to be played back on January 2. That game was postponed because of the number of COVID cases and injuries Newcastle had at the time. Hasenhuttl raged at that decision and the Southampton boss went on to claim it would 'not really be fair' for the Magpies' new signings to be eligible for the rearranged game.
The Austrian was clearly still irked on the eve of this game when he said it was 'strange now to concentrate on a game you should have played two months ago against a completely different team'. Howe insisted the 'rules are the same for everybody so no team talk of mine will be based around that'. When it was put to him that Hasenhuttl's previous comments were a little fanciful, at best, the Newcastle boss as good as agreed.
"Obviously someone thinks so because we're allowed to," he told reporters on the eve of the game. "We just followed the protocols that we've been set and we're delighted to play our new players.
"They've done very well for us and they've made a difference. I didn't see the comments. I understand, but we've just followed what we were told to do."
Ultimately, all of Newcastle's fit mid-season signings started as Bruno Guimaraes made his full debut after Joelinton missed out with a groin injury in the Magpies' only change from the win against Brighton. Newcastle were embarking on a run of three away games in the space of just seven days, but Howe was keen to reward those players who claimed the hard-fought win last time out as they were handed a tweaked tactical plan to deal with Southampton's intense, high press.
This was a very different test to the one Newcastle faced against Brighton, but the visitors could ill-afford to let Southampton dominate from the off. When Howe got home, following the win against Brighton, the first thing the Newcastle head coach did was watch the game back and find out why his side were not able to control more of the contest. The players were back in on Sunday to hear those thoughts and to immediately look ahead to how they could do that better against Southampton.
Southampton may have lost their last fixture 4-0 at Aston Villa, but the energetic Saints caused Newcastle real problems in the corresponding fixture last season. An honest Fabian Schar even admitted that 'everyone had a s--- game' afterwards as the Magpies struggled to deal with Hasenhuttl's Duracell Bunnies. The only blessing for the players, perhaps, was that there were no supporters physically in the stadium to witness it.
This time around, 3,300 diehards made the longest trip of the season to St Mary's on Thursday night. This was a chance for Newcastle to again show those supporters how far they had come, to lay down a marker of sorts against a side who had only suffered two defeats in their previous 14 games.
Newcastle played with such intent from kick-off as the Magpies tried to prevent Southampton from gaining a foothold in the game by pressing the Saints high up the pitch. The hosts did eventually settle, however, and Newcastle suddenly looked a little vulnerable.
There were 20 minutes on the clock when Newcastle were undone by a simple ball over the top to danger man Armanda Broja and Martin Dubravka had to rush out his goal to scramble the ball behind for a corner. Then, just a few minutes later, Jonjo Shelvey was dispossessed in midfield and Broja was slipped in once more but the striker was denied by Dubravka.
If those were warnings, well, Newcastle did not heed them and Southampton broke the deadlock in the 25th minute in what was a soft goal for the Magpies to concede. Jacob Murphy did not stop Kyle Walker-Peters' cross out on the left and Broja and Mohamed Elyounoussi combined at the back post to flick the ball across goal to the unmarked Stuart Armstrong, who made no mistake from close range as he nodded the ball into the net.
Southampton supporters suddenly found their voice - taunting 'You're not signing anymore!' - but Newcastle regrouped and responded in the perfect fashion just seven minutes later. Shelvey picked up the ball out on the left and whipped in a teasing cross, which was headed in expertly by Chris Wood as the New Zealand international finally got off the mark for the Magpies.
If that was a sickener for Hasenhuttl, well, it got a whole lot worse after the break when another new signing, Bruno, put Newcastle in front. Targett's corner was headed across goal by Burn and there was Bruno to fire Newcastle in front with an outrageous back-heeled finish. It was a goal worthy of settling any game and, given the technique involved, perhaps it was not a surprise that Bruno had to hobble off a few minutes later with what looked like cramp.
Newcastle did not look quite the same side after the influential Brazilian went off and Southampton came back into the game. The Magpies ultimately had Dubravka to thank for keeping them in front after the goalkeeper clawed away Salisu's header at the death. You could not put a price on a save like that.
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