EVAN FERGUSON HIT his first career hat-trick for Brighton as they capped a memorable week by inflicting a third successive Premier League defeat on Newcastle with a thumping 3-1 success at the Amex Stadium.
Teenage striker Ferguson curled home a superb second from range to add to a simple first-half finish before completing his treble with the aid of a hefty deflection off Fabian Schar.
The 18-year-old’s heroics arrived ahead of Ireland’s Euro 2024 qualifiers this week against France on Thursday and Netherlands next Sunday.
Success for the Seagulls, who also pulled off a transfer coup on Friday by signing Ansu Fati on loan from Barcelona, was a third from four this season following last weekend’s loss to West Ham.
Newcastle were only beaten five times in the top flight during the whole of last term but were unable to halt their recent slide on the back of setbacks against Manchester City and Liverpool, despite Callum Wilson’s late consolation.
Striker Alexander Isak wasted two early opportunities before the Magpies were blown away and were then punished for mistakes of their own in the 27th minute.
Rushed clearances from keeper Nick Pope and midfielder Tonali led to the former spilling Billy Gilmour’s stinging effort and Ferguson was on hand to slot home the rebound.
With his team still awaiting their first attempt on target, Howe brought on England striker Wilson as part of a triple substitution in the 58th minute.
Isak’s pace remained a constant concern for the hosts but they soon secured breathing space courtesy of Ferguson’s magic.
The Ireland striker was afforded time and space deep inside Newcastle’s half and duly dispatched a fine curling effort into the bottom right corner from distance.
Anthony Gordon wasted a golden opportunity to halve Newcastle’s deficit by sidefooting wide before Brighton put the result beyond doubt.
Ferguson again took aim from outside the box, only this time his bending effort benefited from a significant deflection of Schar to fly beyond the stranded Pope.
The match-winner was withdrawn to a standing ovation nine minutes from time after making it 10 Premier League goals in just 12 starts.
Newcastle’s sold-out following were given scant reward on a punishing evening two minutes into added time when substitute Wilson burst forward and escaped Van Hecke to poke home.
The Journal publishes the biggest breaking news in Irish and international sport but for all of The 42′s insightful analysis and sharp sportswriting, subscribe here.
Written by Press Association and posted on the42.ie
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say