Newcastle 2 - 1 Brighton: Seagulls On The Beach As Season Threatens To Fizzle Out

Sunday, 6 March 2022 00:18

By Dominic Kureen @WriteOnDom

Newcastle United extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to eight matches with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Brighton at St James' Park yesterday.

Two first-half goals in quick succession from Ryan Fraser and Fabian Schar saw the hosts take a comfortable 2-0 lead, before the visitors responded through Lewis Dunk's header (55) early in the second half.

Despite Brighton's dominance after the break, Newcastle - buoyed by substitute Allan Saint-Maximin's return from a calf injury - held on to move seven points clear of the relegation zone. They stay 14th, just one place below Albion.

The Seagulls had lost none of the previous nine Premier League meetings between the sides, but the result on Tyneside sees them slip to 13th after losing four successive league games for the first time since April 2019.

Newcastle players celebrate Fabian Schar's goal (Sky Sports)

Brighton dominated the early exchanges and central defender Shane Duffy was twice unable to hit the target from Pascal Gross set-pieces, with Joel Veltman firing high over in the meantime.

However, Newcastle took the game by the scruff of the neck inside three devastating minutes.

First, Chris Wood played the ball into Jacob Murphy's path and saw him leave defender Marc Cucurella trailing in his wake before lifting a shot over Robert Sanchez, and although his attempt came back off the upright, Fraser was on hand to finish on the follow-up.

Only two more minutes had elapsed when the Seagulls were hit again, this time when Schar climbed highest to head Fraser's right-wing free-kick firmly past the keeper.

The visitors prospered on the ball once again after the restart and Shelvey had to get in an important 49th-minute block to prevent Leandro Trossard's shot from requiring Dubravka's attention.

They got their reward with 10 minutes of the second half played when Dunk met another Gross corner unopposed to head home from close range, and head coach Graham Potter responded by sending on Solly March and Neal Maupay for Lamptey and Jakub Moder.

Allan Saint Maximin (Sky Sports)

Howe swiftly introduced the fit-again Saint-Maximin in a bid to introduce fresh forward thrust, but with the Seagulls using full-back Cucurella to target Emil Krafth, it was they who continued to pose the greater threat.

Dubravka had to turn away Dunk's looping 71st-minute header and field Trossard's snapshot with 10 minutes remaining as he and his defenders found themselves under siege, but managed to hold out.

Brighton star man: Lewis Dunk

Credit: Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club

The skipper's towering header brought Albion back into the contest and, aside from the opening 15 minutes, he marshalled the defence well despite the absence of the influential Adam Webster.