SWEET REVENGE
Hughton enjoys victory over club who sacked him
LAST season Brighton were caught on the rails by Newcastle United as Rafael Benitez’s team stole past them on the final day to take the Championship title.
In Brighton, they said it didn’t really matter but you can bet it really did.
Here once again there was barely a cigarette paper between the teams. But this time it was Chris Hughton’s Brighton who withstood another late push from their rivals to hold on for an important Premier League win.
There was a whiff of controversy late on as Brighton’s Israeli striker Tomer Hemed appeared to stamp on Newcastle’s DeAndre Yedlin. Hemed denied it was intentional but we can expect the FA to take a look.
More important, though, was Hemed’s winning goal — his second of the season and enough to give his manager victory against the club who sacked him seven years ago.
Hughton isn’t a man who holds grudges but he wouldn’t be human if he didn’t enjoy this victory.
If Brighton are to extend their stay in the Premier League for more than a season, these are the games they will need to win. It is fixtures like this — against teams with whom you are evenly matched — that will keep you up or send you down.
Newcastle will be disappointed. Benitez and his players came here on the back of three successive wins and lurking on the fringes of the top four. But they looked short of a cutting edge up front and gave away a very poor goal. A game at home against Liverpool on Sunday now threatens to set a sombre tone ahead of the internationals.
Both teams lack a bit of quality at the top end of the field and that is what will threaten them the most as the season moves on.
Hemed’s goal came on the back of a good free-kick routine. Pascal Gross drove a flat free-kick to the far post where Dale Stephens had dropped off in to space.
The midfielder headed the ball back and down and when Hemed reacted first to the bounce he was able to volley it spectacularly in to the top of the net from six or seven yards. It was a lovely finish and it will be a shame if he has cause to remember this game for something else.
From a Newcastle point of view, the goal was a mess.
There is certainly enough height in Benitez’s team to stop such a move at source and the way Stephens was able to disengage from defenders is something that will have irritated the Newcastle manager all the way home.
Mikel Merino had brought a low save early on from Brighton goalkeeper Matthew Ryan while Newcastle forwards Joselu and Ayoze Perez were both off target with efforts.
All that Brighton had to show for their own efforts at that stage was shot from Gross and a flick header from Hemed. It was a 20-minute spell at the start of the second half that settled things. Hemed scored and Solly March almost did, Elliot hacking his effort off the goal line. And when Newcastle came back hard, there was a brilliant interception by Lewis Dunk as Jonjo Shelvey broke and a last-ditch header from captain Bruno. Hughton’s handshake with Benitez at full-time was restrained. We can presume he was happier than he looked. SUPER STAT: Brighton’s first back-toback home league wins in the top flight since November 1982. BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION (4-2-3-1): Ryan 6.5; Bruno 7, Duffy 7, Dunk 7, Suttner 6.5; Stephens 7, Propper 7; Knockaert 7 (Murphy 80min, 6), Gross 7.5, March 7; HEMED 8. Subs not used: Krul, Huenemeir, Izquierdo, Scheletto, Rosenior, Brown. Scorer: Hemed 51. Booked: Knockaert, Duffy. Manager: Chris Hughton 7. NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-2-3-1): Elliot 6.5; Clark 6.5, Yedlin 6.5, Lascelles 6.5, Mbemba 6.5 (Gamez 82, 6); Hayden 7 (Shelvey 66, 6.5), Merino 7; Ritchie 7, Perez 7, Atsu 7; Joselu 6 (Gayle 70, 6). Subs not used: Darlow, Murphy, Diame, Manquillo. Booked: Lascelles. Manager: Rafa Benitez 6. Referee: Andre Marriner 7. Attendance: 30,486.