Rafa Benitez's team are now five points clear of the relegation zone after their Brazilian midfielder's first-half double and Matt Richie's second-half strike
KENEDY assassinated Southampton as Newcastle took a giant stride to safety.
The brilliant Brazilian struck twice in the first half, with Matt Ritchie adding a third after the break, as the Toon cruised past the sorry Saints.
Kenedy was the hero for Newcastle as he scored twice against Southampton
It means Rafa Benitez’s boys are now up to 13th, five points clear of the drop zone.
While Mauricio Pellegrino’s remain in real trouble – sitting fourth bottom, with just one win from their last 17 league games.
On-loan Chelsea winger Kenedy’s only previous Premier League goal came after 39 seconds against Norwich in March 2016 – and his first for the Toon today was just 24 seconds slower.
From Jonjo Shelvey’s clever chip into the box, Kenedy chested it up in the air and span Cedric Soares.
And while his shot was not the cleanest of contacts, his placing was perfect, as his half-volley into the ground went past Alex McCarthy and nestled inside his far post.
Dwight Gayle twice came close to extending the hosts’ lead but McCarthy smothered his first effort from Shelvey’s throughball, then the Southampton stopper kept out his left-footed strike.
However, his misses were not to matter as Kenedy struck again in the 29th minute.
The goal stemmed from a Southampton corner as after Florian Lejeune headed away James Ward-Prowse’s cross, the hapless Lemina air-kicked a 20-yard short, allowing Ayoze Perez to race away.
The Spaniard carried the ball almost 75 yards and then slipped in Gayle, who, after a busting a gut to get up there, passed across to Kenedy to slide into the empty net.
Newcastle fans were in dreamland at half-time and the good times continued after the break.
Shelvey again was the architect, given time to pick to his pass on the edge of the Southampton box, with Ritchie rolling in left-footed from 20 yards.
It was not until a minute before the hour that the sorry Saints finally had a shot on target, Guido Carrillo forcing a comfortable save out of Martin Dubravka from sub Josh Sims’ cross.
That effort was greeted with ironic chants of “We’ve had a shot” from the visiting faithful.
And though Sims tested Dubravka late on, Southampton were unable to get a consolation and it is set to be a long end to the season for the South Coast side.
