Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

Opinion

Newcastle 0 Brighton 3 – Match ratings and comments on all NUFC players

3 years ago
Share

We asked Michael Bennett to give us his match ratings after Newcastle 0 Brighton 3.

Newcastle United finding themselves two down after seven minutes then downhill from there.

Another Steve Bruce tactical masterpiece and not a single effort on target from Newcastle.

Michael Bennett gives us his NUFC player ratings and comments.

Darlow – 5

I don’t rate him as a Premier League keeper but little he could do as the mess unfolded in front of him.

Martin Dubravka would probably have saved the second goal because he is a very good Premier League keeper.

Javier Manquillo – 5

His usual commitment and didn’t do too bad defensively.

Got forward as well to an extent but lack of movement of others was woeful.

Jamaal Lascelles – 3

A woeful performance and his lack of pace very exposed, picked up booking because of that as he was forced to cynically foul the Brighton player he was attempting to catch.

Bizarrely backed away in his own box for Connolly to steer the third goal around him.

Federico Fernandez – 4

With Lascelles so poor, Fernandez found it difficult.

Stuck at it but Newcastle are shown up a bit in games like this, with Bruce’s preference for two centre-backs who aren’t very comfortable on the ball.

Jamal Lewis – 4

A harsh reality check for the left-back as he found out just how bad Steve Bruce is when it comes to game plan and tactics.

Had minimal help from Saint-Maximin in front of him.

Jeff Hendrick – 4

Totally anonymous and contributed pretty much nothing.

Pretty woeful that he was on the pitch and Miguel Almiron wasn’t.

Isaac Hayden – 4

One of those games where he is made to look a very limited midfielder.

Giving Newcastle nothing going forward, so limited on the ball and a day when he was poor defensively as well.

Jonjo Shelvey -3

Well he had his good game last week, against a West Ham side who obligingly gave him all the time and space he loves.

A different story with a switched on Brighton and his set-pieces were a succession of balls that flew straight into the Brighton keeper’s hands.

Allan Saint-Maximin – 3

It could / would have been lower if it wasn’t for the fact I thought something is up with him.

I didn’t think he looked 100% up for it and / or fully fit at West Ham and today even more so. At West Ham we got away with his failure to properly track back at times but today he conceded that poor penalty and gave only negatives in his short time on the pitch.

Andy Carroll – 3

A bit like Shelvey, he needs the ideal opposition. Where Newcastle are given loads of space and Carroll doesn’t find himself closely marshalled.

With his total lack of mobility, it is like playing with 10 men when a team like Brighton pass it about and play out of defence.

Callum Wilson – 4

Had one decent chance he should have done better with but otherwise a wake-up call for him about what he can expect in a typical game playing for Steve Bruce.

Made a handful of decent runs in behind but would then look up and find himself isolated, the lumbering Carroll nowhere near and very few other players getting up in support, no doubt at Bruce’s instruction.

Subs

Ryan Fraser – 5 

Did ok but completely baffling why Almiron didn’t come on first off the bench.

Fraser had some promising moments and when fully fit should be an asset.

Miguel Almiron – 6 

Only Steve Bruce will know why Almiron wasn’t playing.

Already two assists this season and if he’d been playing from the start, Brighton wouldn’t have found it so easy in possession.

Joelinton – 4

No better or worse than usual. Make of that what you will.

Steve Bruce following Ashley’s orders that his star signing has to get on the pitch every single game, that is 40 Premier League matches in a row now since the Brazilian arrived.

Stats from BBC Sport:

Newcastle 0 Brighton 3 – Sunday 20 September 2pm

Goals:

Brighton:

Maupay 4 pen, 7, Connolly 83, Bissouma red card 89

(Half-time stats in brackets)

Possession was Brighton 53% (59%) Newcastle 47% (41%)

Total shots were Brighton 13 (6) Newcastle 6 (1)

Shots on target were Brighton 6 (3) Newcastle 0 (0)

Corners were Brighton 1 (0) Newcastle 7 (3)

Referee: Kevin Friend

Newcastle United:

Darlow, Manquillo, Fernandez, Lascelles, Lewis, Shelvey (Joelinton 72), Hayden, Hendrick, Saint-Maximin (Fraser 33), Wilson, Carroll (Almiron 45)

Unused Subs:

Gillespie, Ritchie, Krafth, Clark

Crowd: 00,000

(Newcastle 0 Brighton 3 – Instant NUFC fan/writer reaction to Sunday’s defeat – Read HERE)

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks