Newcastle United continued their recent incredible run of form with a superb 4-1 away win against Southampton.
Goals from Miguel Almiron, Chris Wood, Joe Willock and Bruno Guimaraes saw the Magpies on their way as they climbed up to third in the Premier League.
Here's what the national media are saying about Newcastle after their stellar Sunday afternoon away win on the south coast...
'A comfortable win'
BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko wrote : "What a way for Newcastle to celebrate Eddie Howe's first anniversary in charge.
"On Tuesday, it will be 12 months since former Bournemouth boss Howe took over and the mood during this win - on the pitch and in the away stand - was another timely show of the positivity flowing through the club.
READ MORE: Alan Shearer's Kieran Trippier World Cup message as Newcastle star England's 'most in-form-defender'
"The transformation under Howe's leadership has been remarkable. He took over with Newcastle 19th in the top flight, five points from safety after 11 games last season. Now they are mounting a challenge for Champions League football next season, while Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola even ranks them among the title challengers.
"Nobody has epitomised Newcastle's improvement under Howe more than Almiron. T he Paraguay international has been one of the star performers in recent weeks, driving the team forward with intelligent runs and scoring a hatful of eye-catching goals. The opener at Southampton was another illustration of his thriving confidence.
"Picking the ball inside the home half, he burst forward with purpose and showed determination to hold off a challenge from Ainsley Maitland-Niles before finding the bottom corner with Newcastle's first shot on target.
"That set the platform for the visitors - who had to withstand periods of pressure - to go on and earn what was eventually a comfortable win."
'Fighting for Champions League qualification'
Adam Smith of Sky Sports wrote : It is worth remembering, the Newcastle takeover and Howe's appointment was completed merely one year ago - but the speed of success has defied all expectations, with the club now sitting third in the Premier League with 14 games played.
Howe cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines at St Mary's as his team mustered only 0.83 expected goals, with the manager claiming his side were uncharacteristic "with and without the ball" in his post-match comments.
Yet, it was Howe's side who achieved a three-goal winning margin at the final whistle - achieved solely from clinical finishing and four superb goals.
In-form Almiron has now netted seven goals in as many league games. The 28-year-old epitomises the club's rapid transformation. No player has outscored the Paraguayan since the turn of October, and his tally in that time draws level with goal-machine Erling Haaland.
Howe inherited six players in his starting XI at Southampton, and yet those very same players who battled relegation are now fighting for Champions League qualification.
'Burning white hot'
The Daily Mail's Riath Al-Samarrai wrote : "On he goes and on they go. Game by game, Miguel Almiron is proving himself a player with few limits and so are the wider collective of Newcastle United. As ever, it is necessary to avoid grand proclamations following big wins over struggling clubs.
"But if battering Southampton is an established rite of passage for the great and good, then Eddie Howe has surged past another checkpoint as he approaches the one-year anniversary of his time in charge.
"Where it all leads in the short term of this season is harder than normal to forecast owing to the forthcoming World Cup, but indisputably a fine body of work is taking shape, with four wins in four, nine games unbeaten, and a pair of players in Almiron and Bruno Guimaraes who are burning white hot.
"It was somewhat fitting that those two stars bookended this win with excellent goals, which in the case of Almiron was his seventh in seven matches. In between their strikes, it was hardly Newcastle’s best day and yet there were also goals for Chris Wood and Joe Willock, which rather supports the old theory about good teams finding a way.
"And make no mistake about that – they are a seriously good team, with a strong attack and a defence that ranks numerically as the best in the division."
'An alien sense of ease and comfort'
The Guardian's Sam Dalling wrote : "Watching the sun shining on 3,200 singing geordies, Ralph Hasenhüttl may well have been thinking it will soon set on his Southampton tenure.
"A month shy of his four-year anniversary, a 4-1 reverse at Newcastle’s hands means his Southampton side ended the weekend in the Premier League’s bottom three, having claimed one victory in their past nine games.
"For Newcastle, the thing that will take a fanbase fine-tuned to expect the worst the longest to wrap its collective head around is not their rapid rise to third place. Nor is it Miguel Almirón’s purple patch – which continued with a seventh goal in seven – or even a defence not bettered in the division.
"No, it is an alien sense of ease and comfort with which, even when not at their most fluent, they are securing regulation victories."
READ NEXT
- Southampton 1-4 Newcastle United: Magpies run riot on the South Coast with statement victory
- Eddie Howe's frightening Premier League confession after Newcastle United's 4-1 win at Southampton
- Almiron runs show, Bruno makes it tick: Newcastle United player ratings in 4-1 win at Southampton
- Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe shares what 'surprised' him on first day of Toon job
- Newcastle's scary warning to Premier League, Sven Botman's fury and ruthless Bruno - 5 things
