Brighton 2-1 Newcastle United: Ex-Black Cat Welbeck continues to haunt Howe

Danny Welbeck was the matchwinner against Newcastle United again on Saturday as his double gave Brighton a 2-1 win at the Amex Stadium.

Veteran striker Welbeck scored decisive goals in Premier League and FA Cup wins at St James' Park last season, and he was the difference again as Brighton climbed into the top half of the table.

The home side had opportunities to add to Welbeck's 41st-minute opener, where he dinked a finish over Nick Pope after being played through by Goerginio Rutter, but Yasin Ayari and Maxim De Cuyper could not find the net.

A brilliant Nick Woltemade backheel brought Newcastle level with 14 minutes to play, and the visitors looked the more likely victors at that stage, with Bruno Guimaraes seeing a close-range effort deflected over the bar.

But eight minutes later, Welbeck curled a fine finish beyond the reach of Pope to claim all three points after seizing on a loose ball on the edge of the box.

The result took Brighton up to ninth, above Newcastle, who fell to 12th as their wait for a first away win of the season continues.

Data Debrief: Welbeck the deciding factor again

There was little to split the two sides on the south coast, with Brighton producing 1.03 expected goals (xG) from 13 shots to Newcastle's 1.39 from 16 attempts.

But Welbeck has now scored four goals in his last three Premier League games, more than in his previous 15 appearances in the competition combined (three), while 11 of his last 12 goals for Brighton have either put his side ahead (eight, including two in this match) or drawn the game level (three), netting his fifth winning goal in this run.

Woltemade, meanwhile, became the fifth player to score four or more goals in his first five appearances for Newcastle in the Premier League, the first since Callum Wilson (four) in October 2020 (also Les Ferdinand, Michael Owen, both four, and Loic Remy, five).