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Disaster strikes at St James' Park - Newcastle 1-2 Brighton

by Olly Hawkins · 2 March 2025, 16:27
Disaster strikes at St James' Park - Newcastle 1-2 Brighton

Put simply, this was an absolutely disastrous day for Newcastle United.

Dumped out of the FA Cup thanks to Danny Welbeck's extra-time goal - despite taking the lead early on through Alexander Isak's penalty - but it was a costly afternoon on so many others fronts.

Anthony Gordon's second half red card rules him out of the Carabao Cup final, Sven Botman missed out again - his slow recovery from another knee injury is a worry - Lewis Hall (ankle) was not in the squad and will be seeing a specialist next week and Isak limped off late on after receiving treatment on his recent groin issue.

The performance was a total mess, too. Our lack of pace in an totally unorganised back line was alarming, our midfield was disjointed, our passing sloppy all afternoon and Barnes - who may be needed in the cup final now - offered next to nothing once again.

Eddie Howe has made SIX changes from the defeat at Anfield on Wednesday night, seeing Dubravka, Trippier, Miley, Joelinton, Barnes and Isak replace Pope, Hall, Bruno, Willock, Murphy and Wilson.

Newcastle XI: Dubravka - Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento - Miley, Tonali, Joelinton - Gordon, Isak, Barnes.

Subs: Pope, Wilson, Targett, Krafth, Osula, Murphy, Willock, Longstaff, Bruno.

We made a bright start and missed a chance to take an early lead within five minutes, as good work from Gordon and Barnes ended with Isak firing over from close range at the second attempt.

On 15 minutes, Joelinton gave the ball away in a bad area with a careless pass across the back line, but had Schar and Burn to thank as both stood up well to stop Brighton getting a shot on Dubravka's goal.

It was a flat game that needed a goal and we were handed a big helping hand from non other than Yankuba Minteh, who was late on Livramento to give away a cheap penalty midway through the first half. Isak stepped up and absolutely buried it. His 22nd of the season and a superb penalty into the top left corner at the Leazes. 1-0 Newcastle.


Isak then had the ball in the back of the net after a stunning early strike smashed past Verbruggen, but the flag went up immediately as the Swede strayed just offside from Barnes' through ball. With semi-automated offside technology in play for the first time in a domestic game at St James' Park, it didn't take long to see the strike was a yard off.

Minutes before the break, Brighton drew level. Burn was out of position and Minteh burst beyond Schar after being slipped in by Joao Pedro, highlighting our lack of pace at the back before his one-vs-one strike was deflected in off Trippier. An equaliser out of nowhere and the visitors first shot on target, but it was 1-1 and a goal on the Gambian's first start at St James' Park following last summer's PSR-driven move to the Amex.

Our start to the second half was flat and so was the atmosphere in St James' Park. Brighton were dominating possession again and Dubravka was called into action on 55 minutes, getting down well to stop Joao Pedro's low effort.

Changes then followed a minute later, where Joelinton - back from injury and booked - Miley and Barnes were replaced by Willock, Bruno and Murphy in a bid to inject some life into our slow start to the second half.

Isak and Bruno then combined superbly down the right, but Bruno's cut-back was cleared by Lamptey. The resultant corner from Trippier hit the first man and Murphy's giveaway allowed Mitoma to break, seeing attack turn into defence in a one-minute period that summed up our sloppy second half so far.

We just couldn't stop giving the ball away in a game that was becoming more and more end to end; hardly what we wanted against a Brighton attack full of pace against a Newcastle defence completely lacking it. But still, it was a game there to be won for whichever side wanted it more.

A huge chance then came our way and Willock HAD to do better. Isak found Livramento and his cross from the left was superb, only for Willock to miss-time what should've been a simple finish from point blank range.

Another change came as Targett replaced Trippier, seeing Tino move back to right-back. Perhaps a tactical move, but Trippier was in discomfort at one stage in the first half.

More sloppy moments continued, however. Murphy over hit a simple pass after doing well to rob Estupinan, Tonali and Targett lost the ball in bad areas and Schar's efforts to play out from the back were wayward, with the usually composed Swiss looking erratic once again.


Then, a moment of madness from Gordon followed, not only impacting our efforts to win this game but the league cup final in a fortnight's time. A shove to Van Hecke's face off the ball was spotted and punished with a straight red card, ruling him out of the next three games and leaving us down to 10.

In between all of that, Isak also hobbled off after needing some treatment, presumably struggling with the groin issue that kept him out at Anfield in midweek.

Wilson came on for 10-man Newcastle, although it was soon 10 vs 10 as Lamptey received a second yellow for his late foul on Murphy. Even so, Gordon's red felt so costly, so avoidable and a huge blow to our hopes of beating Liverpool in two weeks time, not to mention the fact he'll also miss two other games.

A messy second half then ended with what looked like a stoppage time winner from Schar, who volleyed in a free kick from the right. But offside technology showed the Swiss had just strayed offside and extra time followed, where Dubravka made a massive save to deny Gomez's goal-bound strike from the edge of the box.

In the second half of added time, Tonali had a powerful shot blocked as the ball fell his way and the Italian was also at the centre of another attack as Murphy, Bruno and Wilson combined in a desperate scramble in the box.

Then, as they always threatened to based on our disjointed midfield and lethargic back line lacking in organisation or pace, Brighton went ahead. Livramento was caught napping to leave Welbeck well on side and the striker dinked over Dubravka to make it 2-1 with just five minutes left of added time. Burn had a chance to equalise, but his shot flew through a busy box and that was the game gone.

Injuries, absentees and Gordon's moment of madness aside, I thought Isak, Tonali and Tino were the only two Mags who could come away with any credit, with the former the only attacker taking responsibility.

An absolutely disastrous day at St James' Park, where everything that could've gone wrong did.

Next up, a trip to West Ham a week on Monday before the cup final at Wembley in two weeks time.

HWTL.

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