Newcastle 4-1 Brighton (Undav 22′ OG, Burns 45+4′, Wilson 89′, Guimaraes 90+1′ | Undav 51′)
ST JAMES’ PARK — Surely now the next stop on Newcastle United‘s express journey is settled.
Forget a Europa League leg up, this toweringly ambitious, inevitably controversial project is now almost certain to land in the Champions League next season. Just as they have done all season, Newcastle swatted away questions about their staying power with an irresistible combination of style and savvy.
Brighton were off-colour, stunned by Newcastle’s scintillating first-half intensity and the searing counter-attacking football that book marked this impressive win. It was a combination that got the job done with room to spare and the bigger top four prize will be theirs if they see off Leicester on Monday. There was nothing about their largely nerveless performance here to suggest that will be a problem.
Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool have done their best to coerce a collapse out of Eddie Howe‘s team but now the boot is on the other foot. If they are unpicked by Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday the matter is settled. Even a draw would leave them with a mountain to climb. Newcastle, who were bottom of the league just 17 months ago, have almost scaled their Everest.
The Reds’ unerring run certainly required a riposte but here it was, a swaggering display that belied the high stakes attached to the contest.
The build-up was dominated by talk of pressure but Newcastle inflicted it rather than absorbed it. From the off their press was relentless, the imperious Joelinton taking the game by the scruff of the neck as his team caged Brighton’s attacking intent and disrupted the visitor’s famed fluency.
There had been talk on Tyneside that Newcastle had lacked threat with Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak playing in tandem but those worries were dispelled early. The Sweden forward is a thoroughly modern attacker, able to drift in from the flanks to cause panic and looked in the mood from the off. That created space for Wilson to lurk with menace.
The first goal arrived from Kieran Trippier’s brilliantly whipped corner kick, which was arrowed into the corridor of uncertainty in the Brighton penalty area and met by the head of the unfortunate Deniz Undav.
Newcastle’s dominance deserved a second and Trippier – who else? – provided the ammunition shortly before the interval, floating a brilliant dead ball onto the head of Dan Burn. His angled run was perfectly timed and his aerial intervention irresistible.
Newcastle were briefly knocked off their stride when Undav atoned for his earlier error with a fine finish past Nick Pope. But they are savvy enough to know when to start to disrupt the flow of the game and Brighton were not allowed to build a head of steam.
Callum Wilson’s late goal extinguised hope of a late Brighton rally and a fourth goal was added in the final knockings when Bruno Guimaraes bundled home after a spot of penalty area pinball. The Brazil international has looked leggy at times and it looked like a release for him as he thumped the crest on his shirt.
Wilson then Guimarães
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 18, 2023
Newcastle are in DREAMLANDpic.twitter.com/PMIku0lt2S
The only note of anxiety for Newcastle had arrived a little earlier when Joe Willock was cradled off by physios, clearly in pain. His season is surely over but what a travesty it would be if injury had curtailed a chance of the England call-up his sparkling form surely deserved.
The bigger picture is that playing in a team that will be upgraded in the summer, he will not be short of opportunity or profile in the coming years.
The Champions League has the potential to turbo-charge the progress club that was already worrying football’s great and good. Those anxieties will only grow and with the increased profile will surely come further questions about football’s increasingly complex relationship with global geopolitics. If you thought Manchester City was controversial, just wait until the Saudi-powered Magpies start spreading their wings.
They are valid questions but in the delirium on Tyneside no-one was asking them.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/k40vaDm
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