Newcastle keep Champions League hopes alive with late Isak penalty to salvage draw with Brighton

LONDON – Newcastle United escaped from the Amex Stadium with a point after Alexander Isak scored a last-gasp penalty in a 1-1 English Premier League draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on May 4 in a key result for their chase of Champions League qualification.

Brighton looked poised for victory after winger Yankuba Minteh struck in the first half, but Isak’s 89th-minute spot kick sent goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen the wrong way for his 23rd league goal of the season.

After seeing two second-half penalty appeals denied by the video assistant referee (VAR), it was third time lucky for Newcastle when the spot kick was given after Yasin Ayari inexplicably stuck his arm out to stop Kieran Trippier’s free kick.

“That’s what VAR is there for. I’m happy for VAR to make those calls. I thought the third one was a stonewall but we got there in the end,” Newcastle boss Eddie Howe told the BBC.

Newcastle are fourth in the table on 63 points with three games remaining, three points ahead of Chelsea (who faced Liverpool in a late match) and Nottingham Forest, who have a game in hand. A top-five finish will secure Champions League football next season. 

“It’s all to play for. We have three huge games, three very tough games in different ways. Two of them are at home and we hope that can make the difference,” Howe told Sky Sports.

The draw, meanwhile, dealt the 10th-placed Seagulls a blow in their bid to play European football next season.

Minteh scored against his former team with Brighton’s first decent opportunity of the match in the 28th minute when he cut the ball inside to his left foot before unleashing a blistering shot through a crowd into the far corner.

Newcastle had two shouts for penalties in the second half – first when Anthony Gordon was fouled by Tariq Lamptey but the VAR determined it was just outside the area, then when Joe Willock went down in the box but VAR ruled that contact was minimal and Willock was booked for a dive.

Newcastle had 13 shots overall to Brighton’s five but both sides squandered chances to go ahead in the dying minutes of an entertaining match.

Brighton substitute Diego Gomez got away from the defence to meet a free kick into the box but headed just wide. Callum Wilson then forced Verbruggen to make an excellent save for the visitors’ final chance of the game.

“I have a mixture of feelings,” Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler told Sky Sports.

“I’m proud of the team for sticking together but it was not our perfect match in possession. We conceded a cheap penalty. We have to accept it and try to make the best out of it.”

With crucial Europa League semi-final, second-leg matches looming, both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur rested many starters in their respective league clashes on May 4.

Against Brentford, Ruben Amorim fielded United’s youngest starting line-up (average age of 22 years and 270 days) in Premier League history but lost 4-3 to keep Thomas Frank’s side in the battle to qualify for European competition.

The Red Devils took the lead through Mason Mount, but an own goal from Luke Shaw and a Kevin Schade header gave Brentford a 2-1 lead going into the break. United briefly looked resurgent in the second half, but Schade grabbed another goal with a similar header at the far post before Yoane Wissa completed a free-flowing move to make it 4-1.

Alejandro Garnacho curled one in from the edge of the box before Amad Diallo made it 4-3 in added time, but the Bees sealed the win to move up to ninth on 52 points while United remain in 15th place with 39 points. 

Over at the London Stadium, city rivals West Ham United and Spurs played out a 1-1 draw that kept both stuck just above the relegation places.

Wilson Odobert opened the scoring in the 15th minute, but Jarrod Bowen equalised just 13 minutes later for Graham Potter’s side.

The result left Ange Postecoglou’s team in 16th spot and facing their worst finish since 1977, and the Hammers a point and spot behind. REUTERS, AFP