Newcastle United’s winless streak has extended to four games, after a frustrating 1-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion. Despite plenty of pressure throughout the game, Eddie Howe’s side simply could not find the back of the net.
It was Brighton centre-forward Danny Welbeck who scored the only goal of the game. He brought down a good long pass on his chest, before laying the ball off to Georginio Rutter who played a first-time pass back to the former England international. Welbeck simply ran through the Magpies defenders and slotted home past Nick Pope to give his side the lead.
Howe will certainly be frustrated his side could not capitalise on the pressure they applied on the Seagulls goal. As per Sofascore, they had 60% of the ball and managed 21 shots, although just six found the target. The Magpies created an expected goals total of 1.95xG, superior to Brighton’s 1.16xG.
It was a disappointing result in the end for the North Eastern outfit, who have slipped to eighth in the Premier League. However, there were some good performances across the board despite the result.
Newcastle’s standout performers vs. Brighton
There were several 7/10 post match ratings given out to Newcastle stars by Lee Ryder, chief Newcastle writer for Chronicle Live. He seemed particularly impressed with all three midfielders, as well as Nick Pope, Dan Burn and Lewis Hall.
Young left-back Hall, who made his loan move from Chelsea permanent over the summer, is a player who possesses extreme technical quality. It is fair to say that was on show against the Seagulls.
In his 98 touches of the ball, the 20-year-old completed 91% of his passes including six out of seven long balls, and created three chances. Ryder explained he ‘was always a threat’ to Brighton.
Another standout player for Howe’s side today was enterprising midfielder Bruno Guimaraes. The Brazilian was called player of the match by Ryder, explaining he ‘put his heart and soul in it’ despite the result.
The Newcastle number 39 won a mammoth eight from 13 ground duels and all four of the tackles he attempted. On the ball, Guimaraes provided two key passes, created one big chance and competed 100% of his dribbles.
Although several Magpies players stuck out on Saturday with their strong performances, there were a few players who struggled, including winger Jacob Murphy.
Murphy’s stats vs. Brighton
It was a tough day at the office for 29-year-old attacker Murphy. Starting his sixth Premier League game of the season, he struggled to get any kind of grip on the game and was ultimately substituted in the 65th minute for Harvey Barnes.
It was certainly a hard afternoon of work for the Newcastle number 23. Frustratingly for the Magpies, he did not offer much creatively and did not have much of an impact defensively, either, despite working incredibly hard.
Murphy’s disappointing day was also shown in his stats. He had 44 touches and had a pass accuracy of just 78%. The winger also won just one of his five attempted duels and lost the ball ten times.
Stat
Number
Touches
44
Pass accuracy
78%
Passes completed
25/32
Number of times possession lost
10
Ground duels won
1/4
Aerial duels win
0/1
Tackles won
0/1
The Englishman received a post-match rating of just 5/10 from Ryder. The journalist described him as a ‘willing runner’ although explained that he ‘lacked clinical edge’ going forward, as did the rest of his teammates.
Howe may well decide to drop his number 29 ahead of a tough visit to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea next weekend, with the attacking unit still suffering from the lack of a quality, first-choice winger on the right flank.
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