Newcastle United ended a disastrous five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over European champions Brighton at St James’ Park.
Will Osula scored Newcastle’s first goal after a mistake from Bad Verbruggen, while Dan Byrne headed home the second goal against his former employers.
Jack Hinshelwood’s second half goal got the Newcastle crowd on their toes. Newcastle teams have seen us concede the most goals from winning positions.
The nerves almost gave way to disappointment when former Newcastle winger Yankuba Minte went wide, but second-half substitute Harvey Barnes fired home Thun’s third goal, ending Brighton’s five-game unbeaten run.
Newcastle, who started the day in 15th place, have moved up to 13th in the league, while Brighton have suffered a blow in their bid for Europe, dropping to seventh. Brighton could drop to 10th place if this weekend’s result is disappointing.
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It looked the same at Newcastle. Brighton got off to a strong start at St James’ Park, with Nick Pope keeping Hinshelwood at bay in the opening two minutes and Carlos Baleva seeing his long-range shot hit the bar.
But the tide of the first half changed when Verbruggen bizarrely darted off his line, slipped in to contain Jacob Murphy, and crossed into the area for Osla to head into the empty goal.
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Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yankuba Minte missed a brilliant chance to equalize late in the Premier League match against Newcastle United at St James’ Park
Newcastle then took control, launching waves of attacks before Dan Byrne converted Bruno Guimarães for a corner. Fabian Hürzeler revealed on Friday that the team has brought in an MMA specialist to deal with the growing set-piece threat. However, their expert advice was ignored and Byrne easily headed Newcastle’s second goal.
Newcastle had it easy in the opening 45 minutes, but a loose ball from Pope almost put Brighton back, but his clearance hit Hinshel Wood and deflected off, hitting the post.
Dan Byrne celebrates with his team-mates after scoring Newcastle’s second goal against Brighton
With Brighton starting the second half on top, Hinshelwood scored, linking up expertly with Danny Welbeck to fire a shot past Pope.
However, the Newcastle stopper rejected Charampos Kostoulas’ acrobatic attempt in the closing stages. Great chances arose as Brighton continued to press, but the unmarked Minte’s tap-in went over the bar.
But Brighton will regret not capitalizing on their late advantage, as Wideman converted in stoppage time to put the result beyond doubt, shortly after Joelinton selfishly opted to shoot rather than play the ball to Barnes.
What the managers said…
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe:
“It’s funny because it lasted less than eight hours last night.
“I’m just like you. I’ve had moments where I’ve woken up and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, what day is it?’
“This is really unusual for me, but I sleep really well. I was definitely anxious last night because I go into today’s game just hoping for the team to perform.
“I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight, and I’m sure I’ll be able to sleep thinking about the excitement of that game.
Dan Byrne celebrates after doubling Newcastle’s lead against Brighton
“The way we look at things has changed and even though we try to stay very flat, if we win things look a little bit brighter so hopefully we can enjoy next week.
“On an emotional level, we knew, and everyone knew deep down, it was a big win for us.
“I think we’ve been working towards that over the last few weeks. I think our training has been really strong, we’ve been really dedicated, we’ve been very competitive. And I believe if we continue to do our job well, it will pay off in the end.”
“I commend the players for coming together, staying united and being great behind the scenes.
“Today we rode a little bit of luck, but I think the last few weeks have been more than worth it.”
Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler:
“You could feel it from the moment we had our first chance that they always created this danger. You could feel it on the pitch and in the stadium.
“In the end it was unlucky for us, we missed chances in the end and we didn’t manage the important moments well.
Jack Hinshelwood celebrates after scoring Brighton’s goal against Newcastle
“So we have to analyze it and as a team we can definitely defend better and we can definitely manage the important moments better.
“I think the players did everything they could when we just focused on performance and how we were going to play our football.
“They always gave a great effort to believe they could win this game. We’ll take the positives, analyze them and then bounce back.”
‘Massive’ win comes at just the right time for Howe under pressure
Rich Morgan of Sky Sports:
Saturday’s hard-earned victory against in-form Brighton & Hove Albion felt huge for Eddie Howe and Newcastle United.
The Newcastle manager had what he described as “challenging conversations” with the club’s Saudi owners on Thursday, but his future has been the subject of intense debate in recent weeks after a worrying run of nine defeats in 12 Premier League games left the Magpies languishing in 14th place in the table ahead of kick-off against the in-form Seagulls.
Joe Willock and Carlos Barreba compete for the ball
But in front of Newcastle’s owners, chairman Yassir Al Rumayyan and co-owner Jamie Reuben, in attendance at St James’ Park, the home side had 2.14 expected goals without penalties in the first half, their eighth highest of the season, and led 2-0 at half-time.
The Magpies were forced to work hard in the second half to pick up the three points, but under Howe they ended their longest losing streak in the Premier League and moved up to 13th place, now just three points behind Fulham in 10th place.
Howe later admitted he had “slept well” after the “huge win”, giving Newcastle a chance to qualify for Europe next season with three games remaining.
