_Brighton and Hove Albion 2 Newcastle United 1_
Two goals from Danny Welbeck earned the Seagulls all three points in their clash with the Magpies at the Amex this afternoon (Saturday 18 October).
Welbeck opened the scoring just before half-time, with Nick Woltemade equalising in the 76th minute.
The German forward had several chances to nab the Toon a winner but, after 84 minutes, Welbeck struck again to complete the victory.
The result meant that Brighton and Hove Albion climbed to ninth place with 12 points from eight games – four points off the top spot.
Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool could all still widen the gap, not least depending on how the Gunners get on at Fulham this evening. Tomorrow, Spurs host Aston Villa and Liverpool welcome Manchester United to Anfield.
Newcastle kicked off the first half and had the best of the early play and the first real chance after six minutes.
Bruno Guimaraes went close after picking up the ball in space inside the penalty area. His shot went just inches wide of the right post.
As the quarter hour approached, Carlos Baleba conjured a chance from a terrific run, shooting from medium range but his shot was blocked.
Yankuba Minteh was the next to have a decent chance, in the 18th minute, creating space inside the box and exercising excellent ball control, but his effort on goal was well blocked.
Two minutes later Georginio Rutter sent a blistering shot towards the bottom right-hand corner, but Nick Pope pulled off a good save.
Shortly before the half-hour, Diego Gomez picked up a knock and almost 10 minutes later he was replaced by Maxim De Cuyper.
Meanwhile, Sven Botman had a fine chance for the Magpies. A cross came in and he rose to send a header seemingly goalbound. It whistled just wide. Not long afterwards, Dan Burn also threatened but was unable to connect with a cross.
Then, on 41 minutes, Rutter played the ball to Welbeck in the box and he chipped the ball in to give Brighton a well-deserved lead.
Five minutes after the break, Yasin Ayari received a pass in front of the goal with just Pope to beat but he punted the ball just past the post.
A few minutes later, Anthony Gordon made a solo run before having a crack from the edge of the area but narrowly missed the post.
Guimaraes had a series of chances including a shot towards the left-hand side of the goal after a decent solo run – but Bart Verbruggen was equal to the task.
With little more than a quarter of an hour to play, there were appeals for handball and a penalty by the Brighton goal.
The referee Craig Pawson consulted the video assistant referee (VAR) but disappointed the Newcastle players and fans by ruling out a spot-kick.
A minute later Lewis Miley played the ball in and Toon’s £69 million forward Woltemade played a clever back-heel to equalise and set up a tense finale.
Eight minutes later, in the 84th minute, Dan Burn blocked an attempt by Mats Wieffer. Welbeck pounced on the loose ball, reacting quickly to snatch at a chance and hammer home a second goal from just outside the box.
Wieffer had another stab as the 90 minutes drew to a close and, in stoppage time, Woltemade sent a header narrowly wide from close range.
After eight minutes of added time, the ref blew the final whistle on a match that – in terms of possession and shots – Newcastle appeared to dominate.
For Brighton, after the disappointment of a draw at Wolves, this was a dogged performance by a resilient Albion side who travel to Old Trafford next week to take on Manchester United.