‘Newcastle United player ratings v Brighton: ‘Calamitous’ & ‘unfit’ 4/10s in heavy defeat - gallery
Jordan Cronin
·3-min read
Newcastle United v Brighton player ratings as Magpies suffer 3-1 defeat. (Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images)
Newcastle United suffered a third consecutive Premier League defeat after losing 3-1 to Brighton and Hove Albion on the South Coast. Evan Ferguson netted a hat-trick for the hosts.
Eddie Howe made one enforced change to his starting XI. Sven Botman dropped out because of an ankle injury and was replaced by Matt Targett, which saw Dan Burn moved back into the centre of defence alongside Fabian Schar.
An error by Nick Pope gifted the hosts a deserved lead on 27 minutes when the Magpies goalkeeper’s poor clearance eventually led to Evan Ferguson firing home from close-range.
A calamitous opening goal to concede, first gifting the ball to Estupinan before parrying Gilmour’s shot into Ferguson’s path. A shaky performance for the second time in a week.
Ferguson doubled Brighton’s lead in the 65th-minute when he curls a shot home from distance. The Irishman then added a third not long after via a deflected shot off Fabian Schar.
Substitute Callum Wilson pulled a goal back for United during injury time.
Here’s our Newcastle United player ratings from a dismal evening at the Amex Stadium:
A poor team performance and Trippier was no exception. But he didn’t let his head drop and attempted to rally his teammates.
Marginally better than his centre-back partner.
Didn’t get close to Ferguson after moving back into the centre of defence in Botman’s absence.
Needed to resort to last-ditch defending as March too often broke past the full-back. And his positional sense was questionable at times.
Started well with a lovely first time ball to set Isak in behind but was prone to giving the ball away too easily. Four games, and it’s very clear the Brazilian is far from at his best.
Drifted out to right-hand side when Newcastle attacked where he played two dangerous low crosses into the box. At the other end though, a poor attempt to clear the loose ball made him partly to blame for Brighton’s opener.
Passed a late fitness test but didn’t look fit. Subbed off on 58 minutes.
Had a deflected cross off Dunk that almost beat Verbruggen but very little involvement otherwise.
Missed a glorious chance from close-range at 2-0. A disappointing miss to sum up an equally disappointing evening for the winger, who played the final half hour as right winger.
Should have had a brace inside the opening three minutes. Made some really good runs in the first half but his decision-making wasn’t quite there.
Scored his second goal of the season with a consolation strike at the end.
The closest man to Ferguson but made a half attempt to close him down as Pope was beaten from distance.
Brought a bit of intensity to a midfield that struggled badly. Assist for Wilson’s goal.
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