RETURNING Moi Elyounoussi praised Saints’ character to battle back twice to take a point against Newcastle, and says he is now playing with “a lot of confidence.” The 27-year-old spent two years away from St Mary’s on loan at Celtic, before returning to the fray this summer. Reflecting on his four-goal haul across the two fixtures,
Moi Elyounoussi said: “It’s been a decent week! Personally I just want to come back and show myself from a better side. I have come back, had a full pre-season, I’m fit, no injuries, a lot of confidence.”
On the draw at St James’s Park,
Moi Elyounoussi added: “One point was fair for both teams. Especially how it ended in the end. We dominated in the first half, created a lot of chances to go into the lead. But in the end we showed character to come back twice and get the well deserved point.”
After Lascelles had tripped Armstrong, no penalty was initially awarded, until VAR Mike Dean advised referee Paul Tierney to consult the pitchside monitor. He duly did and gave a spot-kick, which was slammed home by Ward-Prowse.
Moi Elyounoussi said: “I thought straightaway that it was a penalty. Adam was kicked down and when Prowsey stepped up, I think everybody knew that he was going to put it in. So I was very, very confident.”
The penalty was netted in front of the Saints fans, up high in the stands, after their longest trip of the season to the north east.
Moi Elyounoussi said: “They were amazing, they were brilliant. I love to see so many fans travelling wherever we go, even on Wednesday in the cup game (at Newport). It’s a long trip as well and they were there, they were loud. It’s really nice to give them something to cheer for on the way back home.”
Saints head into the international break sitting 13th in the embryonic table, with two points from their three matches.
