The Media Review: Smash and grab at St James' Park

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A terrific afternoon at St James' Park made for interesting reading the Sunday papers.

Nick Szczepanik

2024-10-20T10:30+01:00

25 Bart Verbruggen celebrates his clean sheet

Harry Pearson called his excellent book about football in the North East “The Far Corner”, and that part of the world can indeed seem to be a distant and isolated place - just ask the fans struggling with problems on the trains as they tried to get back to Sussex after Albion’s 1-0 win at St James’ Park.

Similarly, the writers who cover the region’s teams for the national papers are sometimes accused of seeing the game purely in terms of one or two clubs, and usually the one that plays in black and white. But although the Toon’s failure to find the net against Lewis Dunk and company was central to most of the reports of the game, with Sweden striker Alexander Isak a particular target for their frustrations, the writers also heaped praise on Albion scorer Danny Welbeck and goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.

A couple cleverly referenced Anthony Gordon’s decision to offer a liquid reward to loyal Magpies fans who had forgiven his penalty miss the week before. Gary Stonehouse of The Sun on Sunday, for example.

“Anthony Gordon got the drinks in but it was the vintage Danny Welbeck celebrating victory,” he wrote. “Welbeck put the dampeners on Gordon’s Toon party to inflict a first home defeat of the season on the Magpies. He only managed five goals in the entirety of last season - but this was his fifth already this term as he continued the form of his life. And it was enough to call last orders on Newcastle’s incredible 280-day unbeaten St James’ run.

“The day started with pints flowing in the nearby Strawberry pub after Gordon put money behind the bar as a thank you to fans for their support after his penalty miss at Everton. And it looked like they would be getting sunk well into the night as he and Newcastle started strongly.

“Brighton could not get out from their 18-yard line, and nerves looked to be jangling before the game changed dramatically within two minutes. Isak beat the offside trap and only had Verbruggen to beat, but the Dutch stopper stood tall to deny the usually-lethal forward with his feet.

“It was a big miss. And within seconds Newcastle were punished as Brighton scored with their first shot. Welbeck made it look so simple, chesting down Lewis Dunk’s long free-kick forward, playing a one-two with Georginio Rutter before holding off Tino Livramento and Hall to poke home for his 100th goal involvement in the Premier League.”

Craig Hope of The Mail On Sunday also thought that Gordon’s gesture offered intro options that were too inviting to pass up. “On the back of his penalty miss at Everton, Anthony Gordon put some money behind the bar for supporters before this game,” he wrote. “Alexander Isak should have probably topped up the kitty afterwards.

“Isak looked like he had sunk a couple himself when kicking at fresh air in the six-yard area with the game goalless and Newcastle on top in the first half. He was then sent clear but shot straight at the goalkeeper just two minutes before Danny Welbeck scored the only goal.

“Welbeck was clinical in bustling clear after swapping passes with Georgino Rutter and poking home on 35 minutes. For Brighton, this win shot them into the top five. There is concern over Welbeck, who was forced off with a back injury and went straight to hospital for a scan. But he was outstanding before that. Had the veteran striker been in black and white and not blue and white, you suspect this result might have been reversed.”

Former Albion man Dan Burn fist bumps Danny Welbeck after the striker is forced off through injury. 📷 by James Boardman.

Martin Hardy also contrasted the fortunes of Isak and Welbeck in The Sunday Times, writing of “a tale of two centre forwards, one coveted by Arsenal and one released by them in 2019, Danny Welbeck.

“The man picked up by Brighton on a free transfer - another of their recruitment masterstrokes - was the hero but Welbeck left the field on a stretcher having earlier scored what proved to be the only goal.

“The £100m-rated Isak could have played all weekend and not scored. A combination of good goalkeeping by Bart Verbruggen, bad judgment and general rustiness meant this was anything but his day.

“For Welbeck this was some afternoon. At the tenth time of asking he scored his first goal at St James’ Park. Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall offered weak challenges and Welbeck, who will be 34 next month, prodded into the bottom corner.”

Newcastle United v Brighton & Hove Albion 19OCT24 JB.092

Luke Edwards’ report for The Sunday Telegraph concentrated on Isak’s struggles, but he also mentioned Albion’s “excellent young goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen,” the “well-organised rearguard” and that “Brighton scored a smash and grab goal in the first-half, with their only attack before half time, and then did brilliantly to deprive the home side of attacking momentum in the second. They also offered a threat on the counter attack as Newcastle’s frustration and irritation got the better of them. This was an excellent performance and result, secured through Welbeck.”

Long-time Geordie-watcher Louise Taylor of The Observer felt that the fates had simply been in Albion’s favour. “Sheer luck is an underestimated commodity in football,” she wrote. “On a day when Brighton enjoyed loads of the stuff and Newcastle almost none, a PhD student could surely have used these 102 minutes on Tyneside as the basis for a thesis on the vagaries of the game’s fluctuating fortunes.

“To say that Danny Welbeck’s 35th-minute goal for Brighton arrived against the run of play would be a considerable understatement. It appeared only a matter of time before Eddie Howe’s side scored. Happily for Brighton, Welbeck had different ideas. After chesting down a welcome long ball from Lewis Dunk, the former England striker – at 33, two years Hürzeler’s senior – proceeded to destabilise Newcastle’s defence courtesy of an adroit one-two with Georginio Rutter before outmuscling Tino Livramento and slipping the ball beyond Nick Pope.

“The crowd’s frustration mounted and Brighton’s counterattacking became increasingly emboldened, Howe began flicking tactical switches. But the visiting backline and their excellent goalkeeper, Bart Verbruggen, held firm.”