TOON AND GL
Seaside shocker for Bruce... and Hayden injury r
LEANDRO TROSSARD, Danny Welbeck and Neal Maupay fired Brighton to a crucial victory that ramped the pressure right up on Steve Bruce.
Trossard struck a delightful opener shortly before the break, with Welbeck doubling the Seagulls’ lead within six minutes of the restart with a similar effort.
Maupay then put the seal on a much-needed win with a fine volley on 68 minutes.
Each goal was a kick in the guts to the visitors who were out-thought and outfought for the entirety of this crunch relegation battle.They showed no spark, no imagination and, seemingly, no hope, a Ryan Fraser shot which struck a post aside, from the first whistle to the last.
To add to the Toon’s misery, they lost Isaac Hayden to a nasty-looking injury, with the midfielder carried off in first-half stoppage-time following lengthy treatment after his unfortunate clash with Yves Bissouma.
Poor Hayden hadn’t quite made it as far as the tunnel when the cheer went up from Brighton’s players and technical staff to celebrate a goal.
As for Newcastle boss Bruce, he cut a dejected figure on the sideline throughout these 90-odd minutes and he well knows that he and his staff are right up against it now with
Fulham breathing down their necks. Brighton still aren’t out of the woods, but back-to-back wins could not have been much more timely.
Their lead over last night’s opponents is now four points, with Fulham a further two back.
And while no one at the Amex will be thinking they’re safe it’s hard to see them dropping FIVE points more than Bruce’s men over the last nine games of the season.
Unfortunately for Newcastle, it’s not hard to see them dropping three points more than Scott Parker’s Fulham, even though they have an game in hand.
They were negative in their outlook and their tactics for most of this game and look like a side massively swimming against the tide. A fortnight ago, Brighton’s lack of goals and, perhaps even more importantly, their lack of luck suggested they were the better bet for relegation.
The Seagulls were creating chances but not taking them and with late goals conceded too, they were coming away from games empty-handed too often.
They have remedied that scoring problem in their last two outings – and what a difference those strikes have made to their confidence and their league position.
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Trossard turned provider as he picked out Welbeck and he curled his own shot beyond Dubravka.
If there were a good number of passes in the build-up to that goal, there were even more in the move that led to Brighton’s third.
It ended when Pascal Gross’s cross picked out Maupay and the Frenchman volleyed home a lovely finish.
Brighton boss Graham Potter can at least have a day of calm before getting back on to the training field tomorrow to take another step towards finishing the job his side have started.
For Bruce, though, the question remains whether or not he will be afforded that luxury.