Exciting but oh so frustrating as Newcastle peg back laboured Albion

Brighton & Hove Albion 1 Newcastle United 1

Albion threw away three points with a well below par second half performance after being gifted a first half penalty courtesy of VAR.

Graham Potter again went with his false number 9 and packed midfield formation – but at times Albion had a surfeit of attacking options which almost gave the attacking wing backs Tariq Lamptey and Marc Cucurella too many options to aim at.

The way Albion move the ball, the intricate passing the movement off the ball sets this Albion team apart from almost any predecessor, but what lets them down is the lack of any striker with a predatory instinct like a Peter Ward, Bobby Zamora or even a Tommy Cook.

With nine full internationals starting the match, Albion fans must be delighted with the progress but any delight was tempered by yet another draw which should have been a win.

Headers from Trossard and Shane Duffy were Albion’s best threat until Ciaran Clark tripped and pushed Trossard in the area.

Referee David Coote waved away Albion appeals but was encouraged to review the incident on the monitor, with the inevitable outcome that Albion were awarded a penalty. Trossard fired home, straight down the middle.

Not long after, Joel Veltman fired in a cross that Lamptey got a slight touch on which meant it just evaded Trossard at the near post and the another chance was gone.

Before half time Lewis Dunk cleared a goal-bound effort from underneath the crossbar from Allan Saint-Maximin.

Trossard had another good effort early in the second half but Karl Darlow saved well.

Clark headed a deep cross from Matt Ritchie back across the goal and, despite the presence of four Albion defenders, Isaac Hayden was able sweep the ball home and put Newcastle level.

Neither team looked like scoring again although Cucurella, with a header from an exquisite Trossard cross, and Adam Lallana tried to place a shot into the bottom corner but went well wide, and the match seemed to have died as a contest.

Just as 90 minutes crept by, a great through ball from substitute Joelinton saw Wilson scuttle away and had Shane Duffy in all sorts of trouble.

Wilson did not quite seem to beat Sanchez, who appeared to have tripped the forward. Again the referee was having none of it.

The match carried on for over a minute before Coote again went to the monitor and the VAR check confirmed that the Newcastle forward was given a good old fashioned ankle tap by Sanchez. He was sent off and Newcastle were awarded a late free kick, with Dunk having replaced Sanchez in goal.

Dunk’s five minutes in goal were uneventful and Albion moved up to 6th in the Premier League for now.

They next play Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday 20 November after the international break but will need an as-yet untried keeper at Premier League level at least to step up.