Brighton 0-0 Newcastle: Points shared as Nick Pope frustrates Seagulls
By Tom Gott
A second half surge from Brighton was not enough to guide them to victory over Newcastle on Saturday, with the two sides having to settle for a point in a 0-0 draw.
Even without Neal Maupay, who was left out of the squad amid reported interest from Nottingham Forest, the Seagulls posed more of a threat in attack but they failed to make their chances pay and had Newcastle stopper Nick Pope to spoil their fun.
The first half was a relatively even affair and Newcastle did have the ball in the back of the net early on as Callum Wilson beat Adam Webster to the ball before slotting home, but the referee had already blown his whistle to penalise the striker for his high boot.
Danny Welbeck gave Pope his first real test early on as the Newcastle man spilled a cross into his path, only to react well to shovel the ball away from Welbeck's feet.
Pope was beaten by a low drive from Solly March soon after but the travelling fans had Kieran Trippier to thank as the full-back managed to clear off the line to keep Newcastle level - even flexing his composure by taking a touch before removing the danger.
Wilson and Adam Lallana exchanged chances to close out the first half, with both sides clearly desperate to get ahead before the break.
Brighton stepped things up after the break and drew an excellent save out of Pope within a few minutes. March's cross found the head of Lallana, whose effort was superbly clawed away by the goalkeeper.
Dan Burn should have scored a header against his former side but somehow directed his effort over the bar from just outside the six-yard box.
The Brighton pressure ramped up late on and the excellent Pascal Gross played a major role in that. The German crossed in for March but Pope was there again to prevent a goal.
Gross then combined with Kaoru Mitoma and Joel Veltman to draw a goal-line clearance from Fabian Schar, before the 31-year-old skewed wide from close range as the clock ticked over into the final five minutes.
In the end, it was the same old story for a wasteful Brighton side, while Newcastle had Pope to thank for earning them a point.