Evan Ferguson scored the Premier League’s third hat-trick of the day as Brighton & Hove Albion tore Newcastle United apart in an emphatic 3-1 victory at the Amex Stadium.
Bouncing back from last weekend’s loss to West Ham United with aplomb, Roberto De Zerbi‘s men put on a show for new signings Ansu Fati and Carlos Baleba, as Ferguson’s stock rose even higher with a spectacular treble on the South Coast.
Callum Wilson did pull one back for Eddie Howe‘s team in the dying embers, but it was a truly forgettable day for the travelling Magpies contingent, whose 345-mile journey was in vain as their side produced an apathetic display to slump to a third defeat in a row.
While there were no goals to write about in the early exchanges, the tie lived up to the pre-match billing as both sides strived to get forward at the first opportunity,
but it was Brighton who were making the biggest impact in the final third.
With just 10 minutes gone, a Solly March cross deflected off Matt Targett – in for the absent Sven Botman – and struck the post before going behind, while Bart Verbruggen was called upon to beat away a deflected Miguel Almiron strike six minutes later.
Brighton’s early pressure would eventually pay off in the 27th minute, although they were helped by a comedy of errors from Nick Pope, who firstly saw a poor clearance intercepted by Pervis Estupinan.
The Ecuadorian found Kaoru Mitoma on the overlap, and while Pope blocked the Japanese attacker’s attempt with his foot, the ball made its way to Billy Gilmour on the edge of the box, and his venomous strike proved too hot for the Magpies keeper.
Pope was helpless to prevent an alert Ferguson breaking the deadlock from a few yards out after spilling Gilmour’s strike into a dangerous position, and the Irish protégé continued to terrorize the Magpies’ defense in the second half.
Ferguson doubled his score for the day with 65 minutes gone, sweeping home a magnificent effort into the bottom corner from 20 yards out as Howe’s side continued to show few signs of life in the attacking third.
Ferguson followed Erling Haaland and Son Heung-min in the Saturday hat-trick club only five minutes later, but he was helped by a tremendous slice of luck, as his strike took a nasty deflection off Dan Burn and left Pope frozen to the spot.
Ferguson’s treble made him only the fourth player under the age of 18 to score a Premier League hat-trick, following Rob Fowler, Michael Owen, and Chris Bart-Williams in that select company, and he earned a standing ovation as he was replaced by Adam Lallana in the 81st minute.
With the clock winding down in additional time, replacement Wilson beat Jan Paul van Hecke and struck the bottom corner from close range, but there would be no unlikely comeback from the beleaguered visitors.
Brighton find themselves fourth in the table thanks to Saturday’s thumping win and are next in action away to Manchester United in two weeks time, while the 14th-placed Magpies host Brentford on September 17 following the international hiatus.
