Welbeck earns Brighton hard-fought win at Newcastle

Brighton & Hove Albion surged to within touching distance of the Premier League's top four after Danny Welbeck proved the difference in a battling 1-0 away win over Newcastle United.

Fabian Hurzeler's side rescued a remarkable 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur before the international break, and left St James' Park with another impressive three points on Saturday.

Newcastle threatened in the opening stages but Welbeck punished Eddie Howe's hosts slack defending with a well-taken 35th-minute opener after linking up with Georginio Rutter.

Bart Verbruggen's brilliant resistance kept Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon at bay, while Dan Burn saw a late finish ruled out for offside as Brighton moved into fifth – two points adrift of the top four.

The hosts will rue a wasteful showing at home after this defeat left them winless in four league matches and eighth in the table.

How the match unfolded

Newcastle came flying out the blocks as Isak saw a rasping effort blocked by team-mate Jacob Murphy, before the Sweden striker missed a presentable opening from Bruno Guimaraes' flick-on.

A sprawling Verbruggen denied Isak when one-on-one just after the half-hour mark before Brighton scored against the run of play, Welbeck playing a one-two with in-form Rutter before poking past Nick Pope.

Verbruggen again impressed when denying Gordon's whipped attempt before half-time, while Lewis Dunk blazed over from Yasin Ayari's corner after the break.

Brighton continued to hold on as Isak and Joelinton were somehow denied in quick succession, with Gordon also firing straight at Verbruggen after Fabian Schar's incisive long ball through the middle.

Burn was comfortably offside when lobbing Verbruggen in the dying stages, but victory came at a cost for Brighton as Welbeck left the pitch on a stretcher with nine minutes remaining after a seemingly innocuous clash with Schar.

How did Newcastle lose?

Howe will have been relieved to welcome back Isak, who missed the draws with Manchester City and Everton due to a broken toe, enabling him to move Gordon back to his usual left-wing position.

Though Gordon scored from the penalty spot against City, before missing against his former club at Goodison Park, Newcastle appeared a different side with a recognised striker in the form of Isak.

Sandro Tonali's slick pass down the centre should have brought the opener after 33 minutes, though Isak fired straight at the onrushing Verbruggen with a finish befitting his lack of match sharpness.

Gordon acted as the makeshift striker in Isak's absence but found more joy in a familiar wide position, forcing Verbruggen into a smart stop when cutting in from his favoured left-hand side late in the first half.

The England winger should have netted after the interval, too, but headed over when unchallenged from Isak's delicate delivery before rushing a glorious opportunity after Schar's long pass caught Brighton off-guard.

The return of Isak presents attacking solutions for Howe's side – who rarely looked troubled in defence – but Newcastle must improve significantly in front of goal before their next trip to Chelsea.

Brighton show different side

Yankuba Minteh and Kaoru Mitoma were pivotal as Brighton produced a memorable comeback against Spurs, but Hurzeler left the pair on the bench here after a short turnaround from their international duties.

That decision saw Ayari start as an unconvincing left-wing option in front of makeshift full-back Ferdi Kadioglu, and the pair struggled to cope with a rampant Newcastle start.

Hurzeler's side defended valiantly, however, and were once again thankful to Welbeck and Rutter – the heroes against Spurs – when the duo linked up from a long free-kick before intricate passes freed Welbeck to squeeze past Pope.

Dunk should have extended Brighton's lead after the interval, but he failed to make the most of a gilt-edged set-piece opportunity when hooking over a right-footed volley.

The visitors continued to look a threat on the counter-attack, with Mitoma and Mats Wieffer denied by Pope, yet this battling performance was in stark contrast to their usual free-flowing style.

Hurzeler's refusal to adapt from his high-line defensive tactic brought some questions early in his tenure, but this victory – aided by the heroics of Verbruggen – may show the German can adapt ahead of Brighton's next task against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Club reports

Newcastle report | Brighton report

What the managers said

Eddie Howe: "We're going through a phase where we're not scoring, but the positive is we're creating chances. "We can't feel sorry for ourselves, it's back to hard work on the training pitch."

Fabian Hurzeler: "I think we suffered first half. There was a lot of intensity from Newcastle. But we showed a brilliant reaction. In the end, I wouldn't say it was a deserved win, but my team suffered and defended together. Sometimes that's football. We didn't deserve to score at the time when we did. But it's great individual quality from Danny Welbeck. I am very happy with him."

Next five PL fixturesKey Facts

Brighton have picked up their third Premier League victory at St James’ Park in their eighth fixture, with the Seagulls having kept a clean sheet in over half of their trips to Newcastle in the competition.

Newcastle  are now winless in their last four Premier League matches (drawn two and lost two) after going unbeaten in five previously (won four and drawn one); it is the Magpies’ longest winless streak since losing four in a row between December and January last season.

Isak registered four shots on target against Brighton without scoring; before today, the Swedish striker had never had more than two shots on target in a Premier League match without finding the net. The last Newcastle striker to have four or more shots on target in a league game without scoring was Joselu v Swansea City in September 2017 (also four).

Welbeck registered his 100th Premier League goal involvement (72 goals, 28 assists) and has now scored as many goals in the competition this season as he did in the 2023-24 campaign; it was his second Premier League goal against Newcastle United, after another one for Brighton and Hove Albion in March 2021.