Brighton win shows how far Newcastle have come in a year

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In March 2021, Newcastle went down 3-0 at Brighton. A year later, they have beaten the same opponents 2-1 at St James’ Park.

Brighton tend to dominate the ball under Graham Potter and they have done that in both the aforementioned clashes, against Steve Bruce and Eddie Howe.

But where the stats under Bruce resulted in a display devoid of attacking threat and a meek surrender, Newcastle did far more with their share of the ball this weekend.

Newcastle actually had even less possession here but they of course changed the shape of the game with their first forays into opposition territory.

Ryan Fraser smashed the game open with Newcastle’s first attack, while Fabian Schar followed it up with a second goal two minutes later.

Newcastle then had to defend their lead for long periods, but did so well, underlining the defensive improvement under Howe.

There was also a threat on the break with the introduction of Allan Saint-Maximin, who led the charge for a third goal to make the game safe.

The difference within the space of a year is chalk and cheese and Howe deserves so much credit for giving the entire outlook of the club a facelift.

It is now eight unbeaten Premier League games for Newcastle now and they are standing up to teams who used to sweep them aside under Bruce.

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