Joelinton Newcastle to an opening day Premier League victory over promoted Southampton on an eventful afternoon at St James’ Park.
The Brazilian’s 45th-minute strike secured a 1-0 win for the Magpies, who played with a numerical disadvantage for over an hour.
Fabian Schar was sent off for thrusting his head at Ben Brereton Diaz – but Russell Martin’s visitors were the better team even before his dismissal.
Martin told the Daily Echo: “I think we deserve something out of it. I think even in 11 vs 11 I was really proud of the performance of the players.
“They were great, I was really proud of the guys’ intensity and courage. We watched so many games of Newcastle against teams who try to build up and play.
“They just got steamrolled really by an aggressive, athletic and powerful team – and today I thought we caused them a lot of problems.
“We get punished for, and the biggest mistake is not an individual one, it’s for five minutes mentally when the opposition gets a man sent off.
“You take a breath, drop your energy level a bit thinking it might become a bit easier, but it’s not easy – and we got punished for that.”
Martin added: “It’s not like Newcastle changed anything. They’re in the same position they were before but we changed our level of intensity.
“We got punished for it but we still created enough chances to win the game after that. Their goalkeeper makes two really good saves, they defend with their lives.
“It’ll be brilliant for our group. That first half an hour in particular will be fantastic. We have a lot of guys playing their first game in the Premier League.
“I think they will grow from this, they will improve from this and we will all take a lot of belief from today, I think.”
Martin defended goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, whose wayward pass to Alexander Isak towards the end of the first half provided Newcastle the winning chance.
He said: “If you support the team and the club, you support the team for everything.
“It doesn’t bother me – Al will be fine. The problem is the few minutes before that and the throw-in shouldn’t even end up back at him.
“We’ll sort that out. He was great but he’s made one mistake and we’ve been punished for it. It’s not just him, it’s on me for asking him to play that way.
“It’s on the players for going back to him in the first place because they shouldn’t. They shouldn’t have to – and that’s a lack of intensity.”
