After a run of victories, Rafa Benitez and his Newcastle side were beaten by the Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 in a high-intensity game. The only goal was scored by Tomer Hemed, who had quite a few chances for himself and looked very threatening.
Newcastle, however, won’t be too worried about their start to the season as the Magpies lie 9th on the table with 9 points.
Here are our Newcastle United players’ ratings –
Rob Elliott: 8/10
An absolute array of sharp saves. He made a sensational stop off Solly March’s effort. Some of his saves kept his team in the game.
DeAndre Yedlin – 7.5/10
He was effective with his passing, got front and put in the crosses. He played some good 1-2s with the wingers and didn’t allow players to cross too many as he closed them down.
Ciaran Clark: 5/10
He won the aerial duels but didn’t co-ordinate well this time around with his fellow defenders.
Jamaal Lascelles – 6/10
Failed to deal with the training ground freekick. Should have been more aware, but a rare off day for the skipper.
Chancel Mbemba – 6.5/10
He sat back and as expected, didn’t get into any advance positions. More stable as a central defender.
Isaac Hayden – 6.5/10
Couldn’t do much with the ball. He let players go past him easily and couldn’t make much of an impact going forward.
Mikel Merino – 7.5/10
He was the silver lining yesterday for the Magpies as he ran around well, intercepted the ball and created chances. He looked to accelerate every time he was in possession.
Matt Ritchie – 6.5/10
Tried hard, but the Seagulls defended well and kept him quiet.
Ayoze Perez – 6/10
He was able to find spaces to run and was influential in the counter, just couldn’t make it count.
Christian Atsu – 7/10
He looked like he was running the races and was sharp. He crossed well too and combined with Ayoze on a number of occasions.
Joselu – 4.5/10
Didn’t involve as much in the buildup play and missed an easy chance where he got time and space in the box. Just not acceptable in the Premier League.
Substitutes
Jesus Gamez – 6/10
Not much to show, not much to take away from him. Looked to be on his toes while defending which was a good sign.
Jonjo Shelvey – 7/10
Certainly brought in a threat with the set pieces and free kicks. He looked to facilitate the play well but couldn’t move on with a finishing touch.
Dwight Gayle – 6/10
He looked stronger than Joselu but again, not an alarming presence in the box, as expected to be. Not to be blamed as his teammates lacked the defence-splitting pass.
