Newcastle United defeated Brighton and Hove Albion 3-1 at St James’ Park, halting a four-game winless run in the Premier League. Will Osula, Dan Burn, and Harvey Barnes scored for the Magpies. The result dents Brighton's push for European football.
Newcastle United snapped their four-game Premier League losing streak with a 3-1 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday. The match at St James’ Park saw Newcastle, eight points above the relegation zone beforehand, secure a crucial win under manager Eddie Howe, who had faced mounting pressure after narrow defeats by single goals each time. Newcastle now sit 11 points clear of the bottom three and trail Brighton by five points with an outside chance at European qualification themselves. Brighton slipped from sixth to seventh after Brentford's win over West Ham, curbing their European ambitions for now. 101 Great Goals reported the confirmed lineups prior to kickoff, with Newcastle starting Pope; Miley, Thiaw, Botman, Burn; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Osula, Willock and Brighton fielding Verbruggen, Wieffer, van Hecke, Boscagli, Kadioglu, Gross, Baleba, Minteh, Hinshelwood, Mitoma, Welbeck. Will Osula opened the scoring in the 12th minute after Brighton's Bart Verbruggen slipped outside his box, fouling Jacob Murphy on a long ball from Bruno Guimaraes. Murphy delivered the cross for Osula to head into an empty net. Dan Burn doubled the lead 12 minutes later, heading in Guimaraes’ corner as a former Brighton defender. Jack Hinshelwood pulled one back for the visitors just after the hour mark with a powerful shot following a strong Brighton move. Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope made key saves, denying Hinshelwood early and later Verbruggen's clearances and shots from Joe Willock and Malick Thiaw. Substitute Yoane Wissa missed chances for Newcastle, while Brighton's Charalampos Kostoulas and Yankuba Minteh also spurned opportunities. In stoppage time, Wissa failed to round Verbruggen after a mistake by Jan Paul van Hecke, but Harvey Barnes finished the rebound to seal the points. In a related result, ten-man Sunderland drew 1-1 with relegated Wolves, leaving Newcastle two points behind their local rivals.
