Magpies see off Seagulls to continue their revival
NEWCASTLE continued their remarkable Premier League revival with a win over Brighton - their fifth victory in six games.
Ryan Fraser and Fabian Schar struck as Eddie Howe’s side fought off a concerted Brighton fightback, winning 2-1 after Seagulls skipper Lewis Dunk reduced the arrears.
Jacob Murphy’s pass left defender Marc Cucurella trailing in his wake before lifting a shot over Robert Sanchez, and although his attempt came back off the upright, Fraser was on hand to give the home side an early lead.
Only two more minutes had elapsed when the visitors were hit again, this time when Schar climbed highest to head Fraser’s right-wing free-kick firmly past the keeper.
Dunk headed home a corner to give Brighton hope of ending their own poor run but the hosts survived to take the three points.
Newcastle’s day was made even better as a host of clubs in the relegation battle slipped to defeats.
A precise Harvey Barnes strike ensured Leicester beat Leeds 1-0 in Jesse Marsch’s first game in charge of the Whites.
Ivan Toney hit a hat-trick to down bottom club Norwich 3-1 as Brentford picked up a first win since January 2.
The Canaries’ hopes of staying up took a blow as Toney, back in the starting line-up following a calf injury, took centre stage.
Christian Eriksen took another positive step in his remarkable recovery as the Denmark international played the whole match for the Bees and had a hand in the first two goals, almost nine months on from his cardiac arrest during Euro 2020 last summer.
It was Eriksen’s corner which helped set up Toney’s opener before a second set-piece forced a penalty early in the second half when Ben Gibson caught Pontus Jansson with a high foot.
Gibson’s misery was compounded soon after when he committed another foul inside the area and hat-trick hero Toney completed his treble.
Teemu Pukki hit a late consolation but Thomas Frank got the better of old boss Dean Smith, who could feel Norwich’s Premier League survival battle is almost lost.
Burnley, too, remain in the bottom three after losing 4-0 at home to Chelsea.
The Clarets were still in the game following a goalless first half but were blown away.
Reece James, making his first start of 2022 after injury, got the first a couple of minutes into the second half and then had a hand in the next two - both finished by Kai Havertz - with Burnley imploding as they lost back-toback home league games for the first time this season.
It got worse for the hosts with a little more than 20 minutes to go when a mistake from James Tarkowski left Christian Pulisic with the easiest of finishes from barely a yard out.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa built on a win at Brighton last week by thrashing Southampton 4-0 at Villa Park.
A fine finish from Ollie Watkins set the hosts on their way before Douglas Luiz ended a good team move on the stroke of half-time.
The result was wrapped up as Philippe Coutinho and Danny Ings struck within two minutes of one another.
Crystal Palace picked up just a third away league win under Patrick Vieira with a 2-0 success at Wolves. The away side were rewarded for a quick start as JeanPhilippe Mateta broke the deadlock, with Wilfried Zaha slotting home a penalty on 34 minutes to secure the win.