Chelsea stars Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer celebrate and, inset, Newcastle United players and staff applaud the away end
Chelsea stars Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer celebrate and, inset, Newcastle United players and staff applaud the away end
Newcastle United don't do draws. This was a rare exception at the Amex. With just a minute of normal time to go, Alexander Isak stepped up with a dramatic late equaliser against Brighton as Newcastle shared the spoils for the first time since December.
Harvey Barnes was honest enough to describe the 1-1 stalemate as 'two points dropped'. Such are the standards at Newcastle these days but given the timing of the goal and the Magpies' awful record at Brighton, it could yet prove an invaluable result.
Newcastle fans seemed to think so. As players and staff walked towards the away end at full-time - long after broadcasters had cut to events elsewhere - the thousands of Geordies behind the goal repeatedly sang: "WE LOVE NEWCASTLE, WE DO!"
Their support will certainly be needed next week when Chelsea rock up at St James' Park. This result keeps Newcastle above Chelsea, but the Blues have moved level on points with Eddie Howe's side following a 3-1 victory against much-changed Liverpool.
You suspect this latest twist in the race to qualify for the Champions League won't have come as a shock to Howe, who had long predicted that it would go down to the wire. "We've got top quality teams fighting for a massive prize," the Newcastle boss said. "We just hope we're in there and we will do our best to try and achieve it."
It is finely poised. One onlooker described the 'screaming' Chelsea dressing room as the loudest it had been for a long time following the Blues' win, but Dan Burn was keen to stress his side also had 'huge belief' ahead of the high-noon showdown. Understandably so.
No one will forget the manner in which Newcastle won their first major domestic trophy in 70 years against Liverpool at Wembley but, dig deeper, and the black-and-whites' big-game record has been impressive this season. There have been painful defeats at Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea, of course, but Newcastle have already beaten the Blues at home in the Carabao Cup this season; come out on top against Arsenal on all three occasions; defeated Nottingham Forest, Spurs and Manchester United home and away; and gone toe-to-toe with Liverpool and Manchester City in draws at St James' Park.
The players certainly won't need any added motivation when Enzo Maresca's team roll into town. Not only would a win take Newcastle three points clear of Chelsea - the Magpies would land a huge psychological blow in the race for a Champions League spot with just a couple of matches to go.
How crucial, then, that the game is at St James' as Burn explained. "We always back ourselves at home, especially when the fans are behind us creating that really good atmosphere, so we're confident going into them," the Geordie told NUFC TV. "We've got huge belief that we can get over the line."
Alexander Isak secured a point for Newcastle United against Brighton
It already feels like a potential classic. Sunday's game at the Amex, in contrast, was anything but and there was little to write home about until Mats Wieffer's pass picked out Yankuba Minteh inside the box in the 28th minute. Minteh cut inside Tino Livramento on to his favoured left foot before skipping away from Sandro Tonali with a clever feint.
There were five Newcastle shirts surrounding Minteh but the Gambian had the glimpse of goal he needed against his former club and let fly. Minteh's effort took a deflection off the head of Dan Burn to wrongfoot Nick Pope and put Brighton in front.
Newcastle were behind at the Amex - how often has that statement been uttered over the years? - and the Magpies looked in need of a shot in the arm even after the break. Substitute Anthony Gordon would eventually give his side one before the hour mark.
Gordon had only just come on when Fabian Schar's cross field ball found his team-mate out on the left. Gordon ran at Tariq Lamptey and the Brighton defender stuck out a leg as the England international attempted to cut inside him. Craig Pawson pointed to the spot, but VAR intervened and ruled the initial contact took place just outside the box so the referee reversed his decision. Not for the first time on Sunday.
In fact, Pawson awarded another penalty in the 70th minute after Joe Willock went down inside the area after Jan Paul van Hecke slid in. This time, however, Pawson was sent to the monitor and the referee reversed his decision and booked Willock for simulation. Was it going to be one of those days for Newcastle?
Howe threw Callum Wilson on and switched to a 4-4-2 as Newcastle pushed for an equaliser and the Magpies were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position just outside the box late on. Up stepped Schar and the Swiss' effort was blocked by the hand of the jumping Yasin Ayari. Even VAR agreed that it was a spot-kick.
Fabian Schar's free-kick strikes the hand of Yasin Ayari
So it fell to Isak to equalise. Having only had a solitary touch inside the box up until that point, Newcastle's top scorer showed remarkable composure when it mattered most to sit Bart Verbruggen down and send the Brighton goalkeeper the wrong way to make it 1-1.
Rather than celebrate, Isak immediately attempted to grab the ball from the gloves of Verbruggen. The message was clear: instead of settling for a point, Newcastle wanted all three. So did Brighton for that matter and both sides had chances to win it after a whopping nine minutes of stoppage time were added on.
Unmarked substitute Diego Gomez, somehow, headed wide from close range while Verbruggen needed a strong hand to push Wilson's thunderous effort over the bar at the death. On an afternoon Newcastle could have easily gone home with nothing, the visitors ultimately had to make do with a point. It may yet prove a crucial result.