Newcastle 4 Brighton 1: Toon take huge step towards top four as late Wilson show sees off plucky Seagulls
BEAT lazy Leicester on Monday and the toon army is called Madrid, Paris, Munich and Naples.
Three more points and the Geordies on Tour can trade the budget packages for five star luxury in Europe’s biggest and best Champions League stadiums.
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Deniz Undav headed in his own goal before hometown hero Dan Burn made it 2-0 just before half-time with a powerful header against his former club.
Nerves began to tremble at Tyneside after losing to Arsenal and drawing at Leeds.
And the tension was palpable when Undav fired in a goal early in the second half just after Miguel Almiron slaughtered a keeper.
However, Eddie Howe’s powerful mags held out by all means before Callum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes secured a seismic death-throttle victory.
Liverpool are on full throttle in the rear-view mirror but manage to beat the losing Foxes and in four months the Champions League anthem will be played at St James’ Park.
They’ve spent most of the season in the top four so losing so late would be even worse.
Brighton – still sixth and a point ahead of Tottenham – were poor at the start but came out fighting after the break and panicked the Magpies.
However, they lacked the killer instinct in the last third and Newcastle ended up with 69 points – the same number as under Sir Bobby Robson in 2002/2003 when they last qualified for the top-flight competition.
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The hosts remained unchanged after Leeds but Roberto De Zerbi surprisingly made a four-change move after beating Arsenal. Alexis Mac Allister, Julio Enciso and Evan Ferguson were on the bench while Levi Colwill was not in the squad.
Against Newcastle’s heavy press, the Seagulls couldn’t get out.
Wingers Alexander Isak and Miguel Almiron were in full swing causing a bloodbath.
They forgot their shooting boots but Brighton’s passing in defense caused trouble after problem and they were lucky enough to escape unpunished until the opening goal came after 22 minutes.
Lewis Dunk did an excellent job of deflecting Joelinton’s shot.
But from the corner that followed, Trippier netted his seventh assist of the season when Undav at the near post beautifully nodded his in-swinger into his own net.
Incredibly, it was their sixth own goal of the season, two behind the record eight set by Leicester in 2003/04.
Brighton were far from the pace, a shadow of the side that beat the Gunners and a replica of the side that demolished Everton.
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And they were trailing by two setbacks in first-half injury time when that man, Trippier, set up another goal.
His free kick from the right side was spot on again, deflecting it to the back post, right on the head of the huge ex-Seagull Burn to head his first Prem goal for his boyhood club past Jason Steele.
The defender was absolutely thrilled and cheered his former teammates in the face.
It should have been three to five minutes after the break when Almiron was free in defence, but the Paraguayan lacked conviction and fired straight at Steele.
And it started when Undav made amends.
Billy Gilmour’s pass through the heart of the Newcastle defense was superb but there were gaping gaps that allowed the German to score four goals from five.
There was more bad news for the Mags when midfielder Joe Willock limped away in agony after grabbing an Achilles tendon.
Steele then went right to parry Isak’s header and keep Brighton in the game.
And concerns around St. James’ grew as the clock ticked and Toon failed to complete the game.
But all those worries evaporated as Wilson and Bruno delivered a devastating late brace.
Newcastle’s number 9 snagged Almiron’s through ball and calmly scored his 18th goal of the season before the striker turned assist and fed the Brazilian midfielder to push Howe’s side to the brink of the Champions League.
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