Newcastle United have been accused of being too defensive and negative this season but nobody could complain on that part of their game today.

The Magpies had 27 shots, 68% possession, 10 corners and made 508 passes which is unheard of under Rafa Benitez.

However, it was Brighton & Hove Albion who took the lead after a corner was given despite it coming off a Brighton player - then after Jose Izquierdo's shot took two deflections it found a way past Martin Dubravka.

That was to be Brighton's only shot on target in the game which shows Newcastle's dominance on the match.

Different approach same result

Benitez tried to attack the Seagulls from kick-off pushing both Paul Dummett and DeAndre Yedlin high up the pitch to put pressure on the away side's defence.

Chris Hughton set his side up to be solid and difficult to break down and they were certainly that, also carrying a threat when braking on the counter-attack especially down the flanks.

The away side were more clinical than Newcastle on the day as they only needed one chance to take all three points back to the South-coast.

Benitez wasn't able to get one over Houghton who seemed to know what his former side wanted to do and was ready for anything they threw at Brighton.

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Massive result

This was a huge result for both sides but in very different ways as it was Brighton's first away win for nearly 12 months, whereas this defeat saw Newcastle drop to the bottom of the table.

Former Newcastle boss Hughton will be delighted to see his side finally win away from home and move 6 points clear of the relegation zone while not giving up many chances during the game.

Benitez will be wondering what more he can do to this group of players before they get a result as he allowed them to attack against relegation rivals and they couldn't muster up a goal.

Chances came and went for the home side as Ayoze Perez missed a golden opportunity at 0-0 and Yoshinori Muto also missed an open goal for the Magpies.

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Warning signs for the season ahead

This result will give the Seagulls confidence going forward that they can win away from home against their rivals and this will show they are improving on last season and can stay up again this term.

However, alarm bells are now well and truly ringing for Benitez and his players as they have made a worse start than when Steve McLaren was Magpies manager and they went down quite comfortably that season.

Both sides have the same aim of just wanting to stay up again this season and whereas Brighton look like they could well do that, Newcastle look like a side with no confidence in their ability.

A slog for Newcastle

This season isn't going to be pretty or one to remember for the Newcastle fans, they just have to hope that after 38 games there will have been three worse teams than them.

They are struggling to score goals just like last season as they have failed to bring in a proven Premier League goalscorer and they need to find their defensive stability from last season if they are to turn their form around.

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