Newcastle 0-1 Brighton: Mags made to regret missed chances…again

A tough day for the Toon, who could not capitalise on a dominant start as Brighton snatched all three points at St James' Park on Saturday afternoon.

For the opening 30 minutes, it looked like it would be smooth sailing for the Mags, with the flank partnerships of Hall/Gordon and Livramento/Murphy looking incredibly threatening.

But every fan will be asking the same question after this afternoon's game: just what has happened to the attack in front of goal?

As our shot tally went up, so did Mark Verbruggen's save count, as seemingly every attempt on goal went straight to the Dutch international.

Isak should have found the net in the 12th minute, but his effort was blocked by Jacob Murphy. His biggest chance came in the 32nd minute, with the Swede latching onto a fine through ball, only to see his tame finish saved by Verbruggen.

Shortly after, Danny Welbeck scored the game's only goal, in what was to that point Brighton's only touch in Nick Pope's box. With the frustration clear on both the players' and the fans' faces that this was going to be a long, unlucky afternoon.

Anthony Gordon, looking to bounce back from a difficult international break and the penalty miss against Everton, looked as quick and menacing as ever on the wing, but like his strike partner in Isak, finding the back of the net just wasn't going to be.

The game could be perfectly summed in the 74th minute, when Schar's sensational through ball found Gordon virtually one-on-one with Verbruggen, but Gordon rushed his chance and the ball rolled safely into the waiting hands of the Brighton shotstopper.

Dan Burn is one player who can hold his head up high with his performance today, with some excellent defending against his old club. This included a valiant block in the 72nd minute to deny Kadioglu from doubling the visitors' lead, and even finding the back of the net in the dying second, albeit his effort was ruled out for a clear offside.

It's our first defeat at home in the league since January, and mirrors the 3-0 defeat away to the same opponents last season where we just couldn't capitalise on the opportunities we had, whilst Brighton were as clinical as ever.

Alarm bells shouldn't be ringing yet, as much of today's performance must be applauded in regards to possession, defending and chance creation,  and Brighton were always one of our bogey teams since we both got promoted in 2017.

All eyes will now be on Sunday's fixture against Chelsea, and with how close the game was at Stamford Bridge last season, here's hoping that Eddie Howe can nail down our attacking issues and stop an already nightmare run of games get even worse.