Brighton’s teenage superstar Evan Ferguson scored his first career hat-trick as Brighton won 3-1 against Newcastle, who have now lost three on the spin.
Nick Pope set the tone for a wobbly Newcastle performance, making multiple errors for Brighton’s opener which was clinically finished by Ferguson after Billy Gilmour’s shot was spilled by the Toon goalkeeper.
Brighton’s football at times was sumptuous, running rings around Newcastle’s midfield and Ferguson’s second goal was a thing of beauty as he curled home majestically from 25 yards.
The points were wrapped up by Ferguson on 70 minutes as his deflected effort completely wrongfooted Pope to cap a quite extraordinary performance from the 18-year-old.
Eddie Howe’s men, who scored a late consolation through Callum Wilson, now head into the international break on the back of three straight defeats having lost to Man City, Liverpool and Roberto De Zerbi’s barnstorming team.
How Brighton rocked to make this Fergie’s time…
A day after Albion were drawn to face Ajax, Marseille and AEK Athens in their maiden Europa League campaign, there seemed nerves in the camp as Newcastle created two big opportunities inside the first four minutes both squandered by Alexander Isak.
Eddie Howe’s men were on Thursday pitted against AC Milan, Paris St Germain and Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League group but it was Brighton that looked like a team set to play in Europe’s premier competition.
A rushed clearance from Pope led to the opening goal. Brighton countered quickly and a stinging effort from Gilmour wasn’t handled well by Pope and Ferguson was on hand to slot home the rebound.
Newcastle struggled to match Brighton’s intensity and despite Howe freshening things up with a triple substitution on 57 minutes, it failed to stem the constant flow of attacks towards their goal.
It was 2-0 when Ferguson showed off his eye for a goal from range. The Republic of Ireland international was afforded time and space deep inside Newcastle’s half and duly dispatched a fine curling effort into the bottom right corner from distance.
Anthony Gordon wasted a golden opportunity to halve Newcastle’s deficit when sidefooting wide – a miss that drew chants of “Champions League, you’re having a laugh” from the home fans.
Then came Ferguson’s moment. He again took aim from outside the box, only this time his strike took a wicked nick off the errant Fabian Schar and flew past Pope.
In spite a dismal showing on the pitch, Newcastle’s away fans continued to vocally back their side with their tops off in the summer sunshine and were rewarded when Wilson strode through and finished.
De Zerbi: Ferguson can be top scorer in Europe
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Roberto De Zerbi said Brighton rightly deserved to beat Newcastle 3-1 and hailed the victory as one of the best of his career.
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi said: “I’m happy for him [Ferguson] today, not just for the goals. Pleased for his performance, especially in the first half. He found the right positions. Newcastle defended 4-4-1, and there was space for him. He understood where the space was. He is working to complete his qualities.
“He can become big, big, big. His qualities are enough to become a great player. He can become one of the best, the top scorer in Europe. He was born in 2004, he’s 18. I don’t know how many players are young, that score like him.”
Outgoing players have generated Brighton £198.7m in transfer fees in this transfer window with three players departing for fees of £25m upwards – Moises Caicedo (£115m), Alexis Mac Allister (£55m) and Robert Sanchez (£25m).
When asked if big clubs will be looking at Ferguson, De Zerbi said: “It’s normal for Brighton to sell players. Important thing for Brighton is not to keep but to find the replacement. This is right work we need to do.”
Howe: Important not to overreact to losing run
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Eddie Howe reacted to Newcastle’s 3-1 defeat to Brighton and felt the scoreline did not reflect his players’ performance but admitted they were not clinical enough in front of goal.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe: “It’s a tough result for us. It could have been very different.
“In the early stages of the game we had some chances, we also had some other good chances.
“The first goal is always a key moment in any Premier League game and that probably dented our confidence, especially after last week.
“Not just the goal but the manner of the goal, it was messy from our perspective and from then on the game was probably not the game we wanted it to be.
“You can lose any game in the Premier League – we’ve lost three in a row and we have to take responsibility. Man City game was tight although we weren’t great, Liverpool we were excellent for a half and should have won and today hinged on moments. It’s important I don’t overact and the support meant so much.
“It’s never lost on me how difficult the Premier League is – it’s ruthless. If you sway your focus you have big problems. Our focus hasn’t been swayed, determined to be successful in the league. But we know the demands placed upon us will be extreme – this is a warning that we can’t be swayed in such a tough league.”
What’s next?
Following the international break, Brighton head to Manchester United on Saturday September 16. Kick-off 3pm.
Newcastle return with a home fixture against Brentford on Sunday September 17, live on Sky Sports. Kick-off 4.30pm.
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