Newcastle goes five clear of drop
Kenedy scored twice and Jonjo Shelvey played a starring role as Newcastle United piled pressure on Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino by going five points clear of Premier League relegation.
Newcastle had missed a chance to put breathing room between two weeks ago when it let a 2-0 lead slip in a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth before suffering a 2-0 loss at Anfield.
The Magpies started the day 16th and only a point and a place above Southampton in a crowded fight against the drop but needed only 63 seconds to take the lead at St James' Park with Kenedy's first goal since joining on loan from Chelsea.
He made it 2-0 in the 29th and the result was never in doubt as Southampton produced a miserable performance fitting of a side only a point above danger.
Matt Ritchie effectively wrapped up the points in the 57th minute, Shelvey registering his second assist to ensure a victory that moves Newcastle up to 13th place on 32 points with eight games to play.
By contrast Southampton remains firmly in the mire and its display will raise further concerns as to whether Pellegrino is the right man to keep the Saints up.
A raucous atmosphere greeted the players at kick-off and the home crowd soon had reason to raise the decibel level as Kenedy opened his account for the club in style.
Shelvey lofted a delightful ball to the Brazilian, who controlled excellently with his chest on the turn and scuffed an effort into the bottom-right corner.
Newcastle could have been 2-0 up had Dwight Gayle been able to control an excellent cross from Shelvey as the hosts threatened to run riot.
Southampton grew into the game without troubling Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and some extremely sloppy defending allowed Newcastle in again, Mario Lemina conceding possession in his own half only for Gayle to fire straight at Alex McCarthy after dithering over whether to let Ayoze Perez take the shot on.
But just before the half hour Gayle displayed markedly more composure to double Newcastle's advantage after a Southampton corner.
Guido Carillo mishit a shot and slipped as the delivery was only half-cleared, that allowed Ayoze Perez to race onto the ball and into the Southampton half before finding Gayle, who squared for Kenedy to tap in at the far post.
Shane Long and Josh Sims came on for Southampton for the second half but the changes had little impact on the pattern of play as Newcastle continued to dominate.
Perez headed over from a Ritchie corner and Kenedy lashed a half-volley wide as he looked to complete his hat-trick.
Yet it was Ritchie who put the game beyond doubt with a fine finish. Shelvey collected the ball in space on the edge of the area and twice shaped to shoot before laying the ball off for the Scotland international to find the bottom-left corner with an expertly placed strike.
Carillo and Sims did finally test Dubravka in the Newcastle goal but the Magpies had no problem in seeing out a result that will significantly ease the tension on Tyneside.
