Newcastle beat Southampton

NEWCASTLE, Mar 11 (AP): Kenedy repaid his loan fee when his double helped Newcastle beat Southampton 3-0 in the English Premier League on Saturday.

The Chelsea midfielder struck after just 63 seconds and in the 29th minute to pave the way for a vital victory. Matt Ritchie completed the job 12 minutes into the second half.

Newcastle lies 13th but manager Rafael Benitez wants eight more points from their remaining eight games to hit his target of 40 to guarantee league survival.

In contrast, Southampton will head into its FA Cup quarterfinal at Wigan next weekend knowing it faces real peril when it returns to league action. Southampton is only a point above the drop zone.