The crisis continues for Newcastle after losing to Brighton

The winless streak continues for Newcastle United as they lose to Brighton at home.

Newcastle United versus Brighton does not sound like an exciting match to sit down and watch, but the clash between the Magpies and the Seagulls was eventful. From a severe injury to several scoring chances, this match was all over the place. In the end, however, Newcastle remain winless after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Brighton at St. James’ Park.

First Half

The first half of this match started with plenty of energy from Newcastle as they forced Brighton to defend two corners early on and Ayoze Perez almost scored in the fourth minute. A few minutes later, things turned for the worst as Glenn Murray lay on the field unconscious after butting heads with Federico Fernandez in an aerial duel. As a result, Murray was carried off the field in the 13th minute.

The match seemed to lose its early excitement after that incident, but it also seemed to motivate Brighton. The next 20 minutes saw Brighton maintain more possession and they looked to attack more than Newcastle.

Pressure from Brighton in the 27th minute forced Yoshinori Muto to make a weak pass, which was intercepted and led to a corner for Brighton. That corner then resulted into a goal for the visitors as Jose Izquierdo’s grounded shot took a deflection and landed in the net.

After conceding the goal, the Magpies gradually got back into the game with great passing from Jonjo Shelvey and good attempts from Kenedy and Matt Ritchie. The 42nd minute of the match almost witnessed the equalizer as Shelvey weaved past defenders in the box, but his shot was saved and the rebound just went over the bar by Muto.

Then it was Kenedy who, once again, showcased his talent by creating space for himself outside the box to fire a cracking shot that just went over the bar. Newcastle were gifted with eight minutes of stoppage time to find the equalizing goal, but the first half ended 1-0 for Brighton.

Second Half

Newcastle picked up where they left off in the first half as they dominated possession and forced Brighton to chase the ball in their own half. Newcastle did well in spreading the field and finding open players, but  their shots continued to lack precision.

After 70 minutes of action, Newcastle continued to control all of the ball movement, but not with the same urgency as earlier in the match. Every miscue from the Magpies generated more frustration among the club’s supporters and the players’ confidence evidently went into decline.

Rafa Benitez made his first change of the match in the 73rd minute when he replaced Muto with Joselu up top. Four minutes later, Shelvey almost scored a brilliant free-kick as he curled the ball around the wall, but his effort was saved at the last second.

The final ten minutes of the match witnessed more of the same from both sides. Newcastle tried to attack down the wings and Brighton tried to maintain their lead by parking the bus. Despite creating 26 scoring chances, only six of those shots were on target for Newcastle. Brighton did not deserve to win this match, but Newcastle did not do enough to earn points either.