Fabian Hurzeler’s ‘emotional’ Newcastle United v Brighton claim that is hard to disagree with

Fabian Hurzeler’s side left St James’ Park as victors for the second time this season following an extra-time strike by Danny Welbeck. Welbeck, who is three years older than his manager, also scored their winner in the Premier League meeting back in October as Newcastle United were dumped out of the FA Cup on a potentially damaging day.

Anthony Gordon was shown a straight red card in the final few minutes of added time and is a major doubt to face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final in a fortnight’s time. Gordon is facing the prospect of a three-match ban, with only a successful appeal allowing him to play at Wembley.

Whilst Newcastle reflect on what could have been on Tyneside - and what the near future could hold - Hurzeler’s Seagulls will reflect on yet another win. It’s now five in a row for Brighton with Hurzeler speaking about his pride in their performance at St James’ Park at full-time.

“It was a very emotional game,” he told Match of the Day. “Lots of ups and downs. The key was we stayed together, we stayed calm, we tried to find solutions.

“They had a big chance hitting the post, but then I thought we were controlling the game. The penalty was out of nowhere. We played with a lot of courage, we had some small chances and then after we conceded we showed a brilliant reaction.

“We focused on our solutions, staying clam. In the second half we were very dominant. We suffered a little bit when we received the red card, but overall it was a great performance.”

He continued: “We can only win something if we stay together and that's what we must focus on. In football there is not a lot of momentum, but we have to understand why it's like this at the moment. It is important to stay grounded and keep doing the basic things.”

Although the Magpies will look at Gordon’s red card as the key turning point of the match, they only played with a man down for a matter of moments before Tariq Lamptey was shown a second yellow card by Anthony Taylor. The vast majority leaving St James’ Park on Sunday though will find it hard to disagree with Hurzeler’s assessment of the match, particularly his view on Brighton reacting better to setbacks than the hosts.

Newcastle United, who have now tasted defeat on five separate occasions at St James’ Park this season, now have eight days to lick their wounds before their trip to the London Stadium to face West Ham in the Premier League.

That match comes just six days before they are back in the capital for the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool - the side they were defeated comprehensively by in midweek. They will also be sweating on the fitness of Lewis Hall after he missed the clash with Brighton entirely with injury - one he will see a specialist about.

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