Joe Buck reacts to Newcastle United's draw with Brighton at St James' Park. An early Joel Veltman goal was cancelled out by Sean Longstaff's strike just before the break. Eddie Howe's side are still in control of their own destiny in the quest to qualify for Europe as they head to Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
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00:00So, Newcastle United's quest to return to Europe has hit a bit of a block today after
00:06drawing 1-1 with Brighton. Going into the game it was going to be a tough game, Brighton
00:10have played very well this season although the results have been mixed at times. You
00:13do think Newcastle have obviously won the last couple of games and you knew it was going
00:17to be a tough game and they did prove it to be that. Unlike last couple of weeks where
00:21they've had big eyes, they actually started well Newcastle this today and really should
00:26have, maybe not been ahead, they didn't really test their keep up but they were definitely
00:29on top the first 15 minutes or so. But then Brighton took the lead through Joe Veltman,
00:34there was a corner that wasn't dealt with at all by Newcastle and there was Veltman
00:39to stab home. So about 20 minutes in, Newcastle 1-0, you do think they're going to have to
00:43react to this. The euphoria of the last couple of weeks has gone by a point and they needed
00:47to get something. And to be fair, they broke the luck a little bit but they got back into
00:51the game, they worked hard and just before half-time they got that reward. That was Sean
00:55Longstaff, it was great work by Newcastle's golden boy this year, Anthony Gordon, he passed
01:00it to Elliot Anderson. Elliot Anderson, one of the local heroes, held it across to another
01:05one. Sean Longstaff, he was the hero of the day, well one of the heroes, he was certainly
01:08the hero of the day to score. And yeah, Newcastle, that was just before half-time, it was the
01:13best part of the score really. They went into the break 1-1, I think it was a deserved 1-1,
01:17I think it was a very close game up until that point. And if they'd gone in behind how
01:23would the second half of the second half pan out, we don't know. But they went in level
01:27and Longstaff was there, voila, scored the goal and that was really what they needed.
01:32I think it was probably the first half, on the balance of play, I think that was probably
01:35going in at 1-1, which was probably the fair result. And then the second half you think,
01:40is there going to be a storm, Newcastle are going to go for it. And they sort of did push
01:44but it was really tense, you could feel the atmosphere in St James' Park, it was quite
01:47tense throughout the game. Dan Byrne had a good chance, it was a long ball in, sorry
01:52a long deep corner from Anthony Gordon. Dan Byrne, back stick there, to rise like a phoenix
01:57and his header was saved by McBrughan in the goal. And yeah, that was really the tale of
02:03the first half, Dan Byrne had that opportunity, showing Longstaff get the goal. It was real
02:07nip and tuck and a really close half. But yeah, sorry, the second half, there was no
02:11easy thing, Newcastle are going to push, they had to come from behind before at home, couldn't
02:17get that far. Harvey Barnes came on, we'll talk about the substitution in a minute, but
02:22Harvey Barnes came on, he had a couple of good chances, a couple of shots saved by McBrughan.
02:26And yeah, it was just one of those days, I think, nothing really went all massively right
02:32for Newcastle on the day. A couple of VAR incidents, Miguel Almiron booked for simulation,
02:37it looked like he might have been tripped for a penalty, the same with Anthony Gordon,
02:42he wasn't booked for simulation, but he got a VAR for that penalty. Slow-mo replays, nothing
02:49to do in there. And yeah, it was just one of those days, Newcastle huffed and puffed,
02:54but they couldn't really get any sort of momentum going. And Brighton did really well to sort
02:59of break, I wouldn't say break a play, a few scenes harsh, there was a lot of dark arts
03:03going on. Newcastle aren't, you know, they've done their fair share of dark arts, but certainly
03:07Brighton were very good at slowing the play down, not letting Newcastle get any sort of
03:11momentum in that second half. And yeah, you know, the end of the game, the end of the
03:15game level, could they have pushed on more? You'd think so. You'd like to think, and if
03:21they got that goal, especially near the end, a couple of them had one chance to seal this.
03:25It could have been a rave in this place, everyone would have been up, we would have raved, everyone
03:28would have been in there, and it would have been a real fantastic atmosphere in St James'
03:33Park. But unfortunately that didn't happen, and as you can tell now, the calm after the
03:36storm, you know, everything's quietened down, the players have just done a lap runner behind
03:41me. And yeah, now, before we talk about you and Newcastle's European spot, we'll have
03:46to think about substitutions. There was a big moment where Alexander Isak was taken
03:50off in the second half, and I know Callum Wilson was injured before, or sorry, he suffered
03:54an injury, so he wasn't included in the squad. Isak was taken off, that was a big, that was
03:57a big moment. I think, you know, he scored seven, on seven consecutive appearances, and
04:01obviously he's their main man. You think when you need a goal, Isak's the one you want on
04:05that pitch, but Eddie Howe decided elsewhere, and that decision he made, and that's what
04:09he gets paid to do. It didn't work out openly, because they didn't score, but who knows what
04:13would have happened with that, and maybe it was to save Isak for two big games coming
04:19up against Manchester United, and Brentford obviously on the last game of the season.
04:23Was it a popular decision? No, probably not, but yeah, it was certainly one where Eddie
04:28Howe had made a big call and didn't come off on this occasion, but who knows what would
04:33have happened. So yeah, that was really the story of the game, I think a couple of big
04:36moments didn't go anywhere, they didn't really take their chances, they didn't really carve
04:40open Brighton too much, and yeah, on a day where, if they'd won the day, that would have
04:46been a real big statement in the race for Europe, and one that they probably could have
04:49said, you know, hello Europe, after this game, we just need a couple of points for the next
04:53couple of games, but now they're going to have to go to Old Trafford and Brentford and
04:56pick up results, so it's going to be a really interesting couple of days. There's going
05:00to be results elsewhere, Chelsea are currently playing the Man Utd play-off tomorrow, the
05:05permutations could just make you dizzy, but for Newcastle, they know they've just got
05:09to get the points, they've got to go and win the next two games and certainly get at least
05:12four points from them. They've got the destiny still in their own hands, Chelsea's goal difference
05:16might cause a little bit of a problem, but right now they have got the destiny in their
05:19own hands, and yeah, they're just going to have to battle on, they have to go to Old
05:25Trafford on Wednesday, they've done something they've only done once in Premier League history
05:28and that's win a Premier League game at Old Trafford, they did it in November, so there's
05:31nothing stopping them now doing it, but yeah, it was, it wasn't three points, it wasn't
05:35the Deuce-Poix, it wasn't three points, it was just the one point Finlay Gatsby and it's,
05:38yeah, two massive games to come.