Few Newcastle players had much success upon their return to Tyneside.Callum Wilson, in Alan Shearer’s opinion, was the only player who did himself justice.
On Match Of The Day, Fabian Schar received a lot of flak for his ‘horrendous’ defending, which former Toon midfielder Jermaine Jenas called it.
Sandro Tonali has received some stick for his role in Brighton’s first goal of the game, where his limp clearance and failure to close down eventually led to Evan Ferguson scoring the first of his three goals.
The criticism of Schar and Tonali was fair, and now two more Newcastle players have been told that they also were not at their best on Saturday.
Owen Hargreaves and Ian Wright have spoke on The Kelly And Wrighty Show, and have criticised Dan Burn and Nick Pope for their roles in Ferguson’s second goal. That was the strike from distance where the defence opened up and he picked out the bottom corner with ease.
Hargreaves: “That was against the best defence in the Premier League last season, Newcastle. Dan Burn, obviously not playing left-back, was playing centre-back. But he looked very worried about Ferguson. He kept retreating and going back. I like the fact all three goals were different. The first one was an easy one, he was in the right spot. The second was a great goal. He’s a bit of an old school centre-forward, he’s got that physical profile.”
Wright: “You know what’s good about that finish, the way he turns. Nick Pope gives him too much to the left, and the precision…for 18, it’s really really composed finishing.”
Really tough night for multiple Newcastle players
Burn really did not cover himself in glory for Brighton’s second goal, but he was put in an unenviable position. The £13million man received no protection from the midfield in front of him, who allowed Brighton to play the ball into Ferguson with ease.
Burn then decided to drop off and eventually mark Pascal Gross, which gave the teenager the space he needed to score.
It did not look good from Burn, but whatever decision he made would have been exploited. Regardless, it was a tough 90 minutes for the local lad, who looked uncomfortable in the middle of defence.
As for Pope, he also struggled on the south coast. It has not been a great start to the season for him, but hopefully it is merely a dip in form and we see the best of him after the international break.
