Brighton 1-2 Newcastle - Match Reaction
Newcastle did the double over promotion rivals Brighton, winning 2-1 thanks to a last gasp strike from Ayoze Perez. Newcastle had gone behind to an early first half penalty after Ciaran Clark was adjudged to have bundled over Glen Murray in the box. But thanks to a bizarre equaliser courtesy of Mo Diame’s heel, and Perez’s super sub cameo, Newcastle ran out with the three points acquiring what was surely their most important win of the season.
Newcastle started the game with Yoan Gouffran as the lone striker. Gouffran has deservedly won his plaudits this season – his exceptional work rate alongside a steady scoring output has made him a very useful Championship player. On a personal level, I have time for Gouffran. He has his limits but he has been a fairly consistent performer for Newcastle for a few years now, and for a man who (I believe) cost around the $2m mark he has certainly paid back his worth.
In this game however, Gouffran was largely ineffective. I bring him up because when I looked at the team Rafa put out, I wondered just how strong a team we had assembled. It’s been fairly well documented that for all Newcastle’s success this season, there have been few games in which they have thoroughly outplayed their opposition. Typically we’ve been ‘not at our best’. Perhaps this is the nature of the Championship. Sometimes its competitiveness doesn’t lend itself to aesthetically pleasing football. Perhaps that’s the price we have to pay. But that said – there have been quite a few games this season in which we can say Newcastle might not have deserved to win.
It is in this context that when Murray converted the penalty (after an extremely dodgy decision), I wondered if this would be our unravelling. I worried that all of our deficiencies would be laid bare, and we would be taken to town by, in my opinion, the best team in the league. But, somehow, we dug in, we scrapped, and by the second half came around, we were by far the better side. I still have lingering concerns that we are not as strong as we should be. We are still far too over reliant on Shelvey and Gayle, and we are prone to mistakes at the back. But, at this stage of the season, all that matters is getting over the line, and it is clear that Rafa has the players pulling in the same direction. There is a togetherness in this squad that, I think, will make up for its gaps and weaknesses. There is, in other words, enough ‘there.’
Should we go up the summer will of course be vitally important if we plan a long term stay in the top flight. But there is still work to be done. All Rafa can ask of a limited but talented enough squad is to put on display the same energy and fight we saw tonight. We’re not outplaying teams – but we are outworking them. And in Newcastle’s recent history, when was the last time we were able to say that?
the same energy and fight we saw tonight. We’re not outplaying teams – but we are outworking them. And in Newcastle’s recent history, when was the last time we were able to say that?
