Sussex World reporters Sam Morton and Derren Howard look back at Brighton's 1-1 draw with Champions League-chasing Newcastle United at the Amex Stadium
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00:00Okay, welcome back to another edition of the Goalmouth Faction podcast where I'm joined by
00:05Sussex World reporter Sam Morton. Sam, we're just going to have a look back on the game
00:10against Newcastle on Sunday. A 1-1 draw for Brighton, which is a fairly good result for
00:16Brighton against Newcastle, a chasing for the Champions League. But the late penalty that
00:21Newcastle earned, it did dent their hopes of a European place, didn't it, this season? How did
00:27you see that one? Yeah, it was an entertaining game of football. I think Brighton played well
00:34for large periods, but Newcastle were also really kind of tough to beat as well. And I think we
00:41saw a bit of analysis on the match of the day that suggested that Newcastle were able to do
00:45something to Brighton, which not many teams are able to do and they're able to kind of dictate the
00:48play and boss possession for the majority of the game, which don't see many teams doing to Brighton.
00:54Obviously, they love to have the ball and to be the ones really instigating the kind of pressure
00:58and to get chances. And you felt that Newcastle did do a really good job at nullifying Brighton's
01:03threat for the most part. They didn't exactly force Verbruggen into too many saves. He did make
01:08one brilliant save in extra time towards the end of the game with Callum Wilson off the bench to
01:13have a good effort of goal that was really well saved. But apart from that, Verbruggen had a relatively
01:18quiet game. A lot of the ball was being played in front of him and Brighton's defenders did a really great
01:22job at keeping those dangerous Newcastle forwards quiet. And Brighton looked like they were going
01:27to come away with a 1-0 win for Jan Cooper Minster's first half goal against his former team.
01:33Obviously, he scored in that FA Cup win and he was back at it again in this game as well.
01:38And it was a bit of a bizarre celebration. It wasn't quite sure whether he was showing respect
01:42or disrespect to the travelling fans. It was all a bit bizarre. But yeah, it looked like it was a
01:49really kind of good win for Brighton to come to those closing stages. But you knew there might be
01:55another twist. And it was a handball from Yassine Iyari that obviously was the difference maker.
02:01And Isaac stepped up to put the penalty past Verbruggen. And it was probably a draw that Newcastle
02:08deserved from the balance of play. But just a real shame in Brighton couldn't quite hold on for a few
02:12more minutes.
02:13Yeah, yeah. Now, you rightly mentioned that save from Bart Verbruggen. It was a really good save,
02:19wasn't it? It tipped it over the bar. It looked as though it could have been worse for Brighton
02:23without that. You spoke to Verbruggen after the match. What did he have to say, Sam? What was his
02:30thoughts on the match and how his season's going? It was a good interview that you had with him.
02:35It's a few bits on the Sussex World website. Yeah, he was disappointed on the whole. He said
02:40it was, I think, if you're winning a game, obviously in crunch time of the season, trying
02:45to get that eighth place for the Conference League, every game feels really important.
02:49And they've got a really tough running for Brighton. So to be won a lot so late on in the game,
02:54it is obviously disappointing to concede in that manner. It was obviously an avoidable incident
03:00with the handball. And Newcastle obviously couldn't score from open play,
03:04which suggests that Brighton did a really good job at nullifying their threats. So
03:08to give away that penalty so late on, I think it would have really frustrated
03:12the players. And Verbruggen definitely seemed disappointed in his interview.
03:16But yeah, he was asked about his form and of Hetzer's comments recently that Verbruggen can be one
03:24of the best goalkeepers in the world and is definitely one of the best young keepers at the
03:28moment. And he hadn't seen those comments, but he was really pleased to hear that he's got that
03:34trust from his manager. And so to hear those comments might be a real boost to him. Because
03:38he has come in for some stick from fans in recent games. Obviously Brighton had a bit of a dip in
03:43form and Verbruggen wasn't necessarily at his best, but he's really stepped it up with the team,
03:48and has made some really crucial saves. He made a fantastic save from Tuchek against West Ham.
03:53I think he was nominated for two Save of the Month awards, I think, against Leicester and Palace in
03:58April. And that obviously combined with the two goals of the month awards, or contenders I should say,
04:04sorry for the Labour and the ER races. Yeah, a decent month for Brighton in that sense. But yeah,
04:10I think Verbruggen has definitely shown he's one of the best young keepers in the world and
04:15I think he can only keep improving. And that's definitely the gist of what he was saying to us,
04:18is that he still feels a long way off his best and there's still lots of improvements to be had.
04:23But I think the fact that he's become a regular starter and after being obviously a rotational keeper
04:27last season, the sky is definitely the limit for him this season and going forward.
04:32Yeah, for sure. For sure. So, three games left to go starting at Wolves this Saturday. Do you think
04:40Brighton can still clinch one of those European places now? It's looking like it would be the
04:45Conference League if they are to be in Europe next season. Can they do it, Sam?
04:49I think they can. I think they can. It's obviously a really tough game, first of all, away at Wolves.
04:54They've got to really play well there. Yeah, on a really good run of form. Obviously,
04:59Kuhn is one of the best players in the league this season. And I just feel like they're really well
05:05organised, well drilled and will be a really tough team to beat. Then they've got Liverpool at home.
05:09They've obviously already got the season wrapped up and obviously the title. So it'll be interesting to
05:14see what happens there, obviously, in terms of their performance levels, because they did drop
05:19a little bit against Chelsea. So I think Brighton should be looking at that.
05:23Yeah, they weren't up to their usual standard, especially in the first half against Chelsea, I thought.
05:27A hundred percent. And they obviously rested some key names and whatnot, who've obviously had a long
05:32season with lots of minutes in the legs. You can understand that completely. So yeah,
05:36I think it's definitely a game that Brighton should be looking at winning, I think, absolutely.
05:40And then you've got Spurs away on the last day and that's another game that Brighton should be
05:45looking at winning. Spurs have got bigger priorities than the league. Obviously, their
05:49Premier League season's pretty much over.
05:51They've been terrible in the league this season, haven't they?
05:54Yeah, really poor. So yeah, I feel like Brighton should be looking at that as a winnable game as
05:59well. And there are some promising signs, I think, obviously, in the games against West Ham and
06:04Newcastle. They could easily have come away with six points. And it did seem like the luck was on
06:09their side, obviously, after those two VAR moments where Newcastle were given penalties and then
06:15VAR stepped in to say no. They obviously correctly denied those opportunities for a penalty for
06:21Newcastle. And he felt luck because on Brighton's side, it was just such a shame that final nail in
06:26the coffin towards the end, obviously, with that penalty that was given. So yeah, I think there's
06:30plenty of reasons to be positive for Brighton going into these last few games. And I can't see
06:35any reason why not. But obviously, a lot will depend on how the teams around them get on. Obviously,
06:40Brentford are on a great run of form now. They're above Brighton.
06:43Yeah, Brighton, yeah.
06:46Yeah, Bournemouth got a brilliant win against Arsenal. Obviously, Fulham had a defeat against
06:51Aston Villa, which perhaps no shame in that with Villa being in the form they're in and
06:55going for the Champions League place as well. So yeah, all of those teams are in kind of a good
07:00position and Brighton will need to avoid any slip-ups if they're able to get eighth place.
07:05Yeah, yeah. And Joe Pedro, I thought they missed him against Newcastle as well, didn't they? I was
07:10looking at the bench and who they could bring on just to change the match. And they just lacked a few
07:15options, didn't they, in the final stages against Newcastle. I think his suspension has been a
07:20miss. So he's going to miss the Wolves game as well. But then he'll be back for the final two games.
07:25But I just wanted to put another name to you, Sam, as well, while I've got you here. Julio Nciso,
07:30you sort of think who could do something unpredictable when those games are as tight as
07:35they are against Newcastle. And you saw what Nciso did for Ipswich against Everton. Now,
07:43he's due to come back to Brighton in the summer. I did a piece on him this morning on the Sussex
07:50World website, looking at where he could potentially fit into this Brighton team next season.
07:58What would you like to see happen with him? Is he a player you'd like to see Brighton retain? Or do
08:03you think there's a case for moving him on? I would love to see him stay. I think he's got that
08:10kind of air of unpredictability about him. And he really can just create a goal out of absolutely
08:15nothing, as you saw against Everton this weekend, where he just took it past a couple of players and
08:21then just fired an unstoppable shot off the crossbar. It was just an incredible, incredible goal.
08:26Great goal, wasn't it? Great goal.
08:27Yeah, and got it switched back into the game. Obviously, they nicked a two-all draw
08:30in the penultimate game at Goodison Park. So it was a, yeah, a fantastic goal. And it just really
08:36just proves what quality in CISO has. And he's obviously a bit of a feisty character that can
08:41obviously get in defenders' heads and that kind of thing. So I just feel like, yeah, Brighton
08:47have lacked a little bit of his kind of unpredictability there. I think Newcastle did
08:52do quite a good job of keeping those forward players quiet for Brighton. I know, obviously,
08:56that Pedro and Omer were missing and that didn't help. And obviously, Ritter as well has been injured
09:00for quite a few weeks now. So I think with all those injuries and suspensions coming to mind,
09:07Brighton may think, oh, it would have been nice to have in CISO still in the team to use him in these
09:12moments when they've got key players out. And I think they'll probably learn from that,
09:16I think, going forward. I think in these kind of games, you need a player like that to kind of
09:21You need a wild card.
09:22A wild card, yeah. 100%. And just play, you can just create something out of absolutely nothing.
09:26And, yeah, he got into the BBC Premier League Team of the Week by Troy Deeney as well. And Deeney said
09:32he showed real class and quality, even with Ipswich dead and buried in the league. Deeney's been in
09:38the dressing rooms where people like that say they're injured and go back to the parent club
09:41because the job's done. But he did the opposite. He took the game to Edmonton, who's the best player
09:45on the pitch, and he showed his Premier League quality, whether that be another team in the
09:49Premier League or back with Brighton. It was a very good goal, unbelievable goal, actually,
09:52and a contender for goal of the season. So, yeah, I think absolutely it'd be great if
09:56he would come back to Brighton. But I completely understand if him, from a personal point of
10:00view, wouldn't be happy just to be a bit part player and to play when things aren't going well,
10:06we've got injuries. He's going to want to be a regular starter. So that's the difficulty,
10:10whether you can convince him to be a squad player, because he probably is too good to be a squad player,
10:15really. Yeah, yeah. The only way I see him playing, because I think Jorginho is going to be ahead
10:21of him again next season. Then they've got Matt O'Reilly and Brejan Gruda, who can also play
10:27in that number 10 role. The potential I see is if Matoma does move on this summer, that he could
10:32play off the left-hand side, where he has that ability, doesn't need to cut inside onto his right
10:37foot and then let the shots go. So whether they could see him adapting to that role on the left-hand
10:44side rather than a specialist number 10, it would be an interesting one for me. But that's the only
10:51place I could see him potentially getting a regular run in this Brighton team. But yeah, we'll see how
10:59that one goes. It's going to be a big decision to make for Brighton this summer. But thanks very
11:05much for joining us, Sam, going through the Newcastle game. We'll start the build-up to the Wolves match
11:11shortly on the Sussex World website, where we've been looking at the teams available and how they
11:15could get on up at Molyneux Stadium this weekend. But thanks again for coming on, Sam. Cheers.
11:22Cheers, Darren.