Newcastle United earned what could be an important point at the Amex Stadium on a boiling hot day on the south coast. The Magpies were indebted to Nick Pope for a string of key saves while Kieran Trippier also cleared one off the line with the only gripe being the lack of cutting edge at the other end.
Whatever your reflections of the stalemate were today it was a far cry from the night Newcastle under Steve Bruce lost 3-0 against the Seagulls.
Here’s today’s key notes from Brighton.
READ MORE: Eddie Howe offers Newcastle United transfer update
Newcastle still need another forward
Eddie Howe reached for a Plan B after Callum Wilson had gave it his all at Brighton. But Jacob Murphy and Chris Wood didn’t make much difference to the final outcome and the clear need for more fire power is there for all to see.
On a day in which Allan Saint-Maximin flattered for long periods in an attacking sense, Howe will feel it only would have taken one magic moment to grab the win at Brighton. Sadly that didn’t come but Newcastle still have just over two weeks to change that.
The moment a draw became a good result
There was a moment towards the end when Newcastle seemed to switch from a team trying to win to a side prepared to accept a point. For when a Brighton clearance swept past Howe and number 2 Jason Tindall they opted against trapping the ball to set up another quick attack from a throw.
Multi ball may well be in play but that ate up a few seconds to help earn the point. That was in stoppage time and in days gone by Newcastle’s game management may have gone the other way.
They’d have stayed on the front foot and been hit on the counter attack. But these are different days now under the astute management team.
No serious injury worries
Both Matt Targett and Ryan Fraser didn’t play at Brighton. But both should be back in contention for Man City next week.
Targett has a dead leg after Forest last week while Fraser’s back spasm should have cleared up by Sunday.
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