Match report: Newcastle 4 - 1 Brighton
It was a vital win for Eddie Howe's side as they hunt down a spot in next season's Champions League
Newcastle returned back to winning ways with an emphatic 4-1 victory against Brighton on Thursday night, putting them on the verge of Champions League football for the first time in over 20 years.
Eddie Howe’s men put up a rather magnificent display, leaving them just one win away from securing a top four finish. Despite only having 34% of the ball throughout the match, they were extremely clinical in the final third and neutralised Brighton’s key attackers with the high press they effectively deployed.
The first goal came from an in-swinging Kieran Trippier corner who clipped the unfortunate head of Deniz Undav, who turned the ball into the back of his own net, giving the Magpies the lead after 22 minutes.
Then just before the interval the stars perfectly aligned for Dan Burn as he connected with, again, another Trippier delivery, this time from a free kick and headed the ball into the far post against his old club.
However, sixth-placed Brighton, who are seeking to qualify for a European competition for the first time in their club’s history, pulled one back just after the break as Undav partially redeemed himself. He slotted the ball past Nick Pope in a one vs one situation, courtesy of a well-weighted pass by Billy Gilmour who caught Fabian Schar briefly sleeping.
Up until late on, St James’ Park was a very nervous stadium as the best part of 50,000 Geordies waited in angst for their team to get it over the line. However, despite wasted chances by Newcastle, and the visitors threatening to equalise, the game was sealed by goals from Callum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes.
The stadium burst into a state of euphoria as the final whistle was blown, signalling the end of one of Newcastle’s biggest games this season. Although Champions League is not confirmed, there was a sense among fans that the job was very nearly done.
The Magpies are positioned third in the table on 69 points with fourth-placed Manchester United on 66 with an extra game in-hand. The surging Liverpool is in fifth place on 65 points, however they only have two games remaining, and should they get beat by Aston Villa on Saturday, that would confirm the North East club’s place in the top four.
Newcastle’s boss reinforced the importance of expanding his squad in preparation of European football next season:
“If you have a strong squad, rotation will be important, utilising the whole squad is going to be important.
"We haven't felt the necessity to necessarily do that on a consistent basis because we've been in one competition - of course, we had the cup run. We have rotated to a degree, but maybe not in the numbers that we might need to next year.
"If you're going to do that, then the squad needs to be strong enough, so if you put out two XIs, they're of equal strength."
The strength of Howe’s current squad could be tested on Monday evening following the injuries of Joelinton and Joe Willock who could both miss the game.
The former went down numerous times during the match and was eventually substituted in the 95th minute for Matt Targett, while Willock pulled up abruptly in the 60th minute with a hamstring problem and was replaced by Elliott Anderson.
Howe updated the media on both players earlier today:
"It looks like Joe Willock may be in trouble with his hamstring - we might lose him for the season, but that's unclear as I sit here now. Fingers crossed our team will still be strong."
And on the Brazilian:
"He's a machine. He'd literally - it's a well-used phrase in football - run through a brick wall for the team, the club and I think he does every game.
"He succumbed to that brick wall last night, it seemed to hurt him, but we hope he's okay. He's just been incredible for us this year."