Southampton stroll to victory over beleaguered Newcastle

Football Soccer - Southampton v Newcastle United - Barclays Premier League - St Mary's Stadium - 9/4/16 Southampton's Jay Rodriguez in action with Newcastle's Siem De Jong Reuters / Philip Brown

REUTERS - A 3-1 home defeat of Newcastle United kept alive Southampton's hopes of playing European football next season and plunged the visitors closer to relegation on Saturday.

The win left Saints in seventh place, two points behind West Ham United, while Newcastle are second from bottom, six points adrift of safety.

A dazzling solo goal by Shane Long and a crisp finish by Graziano Pelle, after the Ireland striker had set him up, gave Southampton a 2-0 halftime lead as the Magpies failed to muster a single shot on target in the first period.

Victor Wanyama drilled in a rebound to score the home side's third goal before an Andros Townsend thunderbolt from 20 metres provided Newcastle with a late consolation.

(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Tony Jimenez)