Eddie Howe admits defeat at Brighton is a warning Newcastle cannot allow their Champions League adventure to distract from the “ruthless” Premier League.
The Magpies are back in the group stage of European football’s premier competition for the first time in 20 years and travelled to the Amex Stadium having been drawn to face heavyweights AC Milan, Paris St Germain and Borussia Dortmund.
But anticipation of those upcoming fixtures was swiftly tempered by a third successive top-flight loss as a hat-trick from 18-year-old Evan Ferguson earned the Seagulls a 3-1 success.
Manager Howe, whose side were beaten 2-1 at home by 10-man Liverpool last weekend following a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City, accepts responsibility for the mini slump but insists he will not over-react.
“It’s never been lost on me how difficult the Premier League is,” he said.
“I know how tough a league it is, it’s ruthless, so if you get your focus swayed, you’re going to have big problems – I don’t think our focus has been.
“We’ve tried to very much concentrate on our next match, that will always be our focus and we’re determined to be successful in the league this year and win as many games as possible.
“But we know the demands placed upon us are going to be extreme so this is a warning, I think, that we can’t be swayed and the Premier League is a very tough division.
“We’ve lost three in a row and we have to take responsibility for that. It’s important that I don’t over-react.”
Newcastle had the better of the early chances on the south coast but fell behind to Ferguson’s 27th-minute opener following defensive errors.
The Republic of Ireland striker doubled his tally with a stunning long-range effort before becoming only the fourth teenager to register a Premier League treble thanks to an effort which deflected in off Fabian Schar.
Howe, who revealed sidelined midfielder Joe Willock will be out for a further six weeks after his hamstring issue was compounded by a fresh Achilles problem, is itching for a swift return to action going into a two-week international break.
“I’d like a game pretty quickly, if I could,” said Howe, whose team host Brentford on September 17.
“We have some great games to come and we’re looking forward to that challenge.
“I think the challenge to me is to lift everybody and keep our confidence levels because we are a very good team and we have to always have that in the back of our minds as we go into the next two weeks.
“The lads are very disappointed. Collectively we’ve got an outstanding group of individuals, great mentalities and we know what we’ve got to do.”
Ferguson’s first senior hat-trick, which was followed by Callum Wilson’s consolation, was the third in the Premier League on Saturday after trebles for Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Tottenham forward Son Heung-min.
“It’s a good day,” he told Brighton’s website. “It’s an unbelievable feeling.
“It’s not bad company to be in; Haaland’s record last season (52 City goals in all competitions) and Son’s been doing it for a number of years, so it’s good company to be in.”
Ahead of kick-off, the Seagulls paraded 20-year Spain forward Ansu Fati following his deadline-day loan switch from Barcelona.
“He’s going to be great for the squad, especially as competition,” said Ferguson.
“It’s tough up that area of the pitch and he’s going to be another one chucked in there and I reckon he’ll be very good for it.”
Premier League MD12: Lucky winners and unlucky losers
Pep Guardiola may have signed a new contract at Manchester City, but there was no turnaround in fortunes for the Premier League champions.
City were humbled 4-0 by Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, losing a fifth straight game in all competitions.
Liverpool capitalised on that result, coming from behind to beat lowly Southampton 3-2 on Sunday and moving eight points clear at the top in the process.
Ruben Amorim made his bow as Manchester United boss in a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town at Portman Road, while Chelsea and Arsenal are hot on Man City's heels.
We also saw a managerial departure, with Leicester City parting ways with Steve Cooper after four league matches without a win.
But, who were the unlucky losers, and lucky winners, from the weekend's Premier League fixtures?
Unlucky losers: Fulham
Man City were not the only team to ship four goals on Saturday, with Fulham also having that unwanted badge of honour following their 4-1 home loss to Wolves.
But while Wolves were excellent on the counter and clinical when their chances came, it is fair to say Fulham were unfortunate to concede four times, given they only gave up 1.3 expected goals against (xGA).
Indeed, Fulham and Wolves both had 10 shots, while both teams also had 23 touches in the opponents' box.
It was a bad day at the office for Marco Silva, but he can at least take solace that the numbers suggest they were somewhat unfortunate.
Unlucky losers: Bournemouth
Bournemouth were beaten 2-1 by Brighton on Saturday, as the Seagulls held off their south coast rivals despite Carlos Baleba's red card.
David Brooks pulled one back for Bournemouth late on, as Andoni Iraola's team fell short of their 1.6 xG.
Brighton, on the other hand, accumulated just 0.9 xG, the third-lowest total of any of the 18 games to have been played across Saturday and Sunday.
Bournemouth had 19 shots but only got five of them on target. Brighton, on the other hand, sent four of their six attempts on target.
Lucky winners: Tottenham
Time for some controversy...
Spurs were brilliant against City, with James Maddison marking his 28th birthday with a first-half double before Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson got in on the act after the break.
Yet, the metrics suggest Tottenham were fortunate to keep a clean sheet, with City - who had 23 attempts - accumulating 2.1 xG.
That is not to say Spurs were not impressive going the other way. They finished with 2.5 xG from just nine shots, showing they created high-calibre chances.
But should it really have been 4-0? The numbers suggest not, but then again, stats must always be used within context and should not be all we go off.
Reggae Boyz Magee, Williams help Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC mark 10th anniversary in USL Championship with maiden title
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, home of Reggae Boyz Tyreek Magee and Devon “Speedy” Williams, earned their first USL Championship league title with a 3-0 victory against Rhode Island FC in the final before a sellout crowd of 8,023 fans at Weidner Field on Saturday.
Williams played all 90 minutes while Magee came on as a second half substitute.
The Switchbacks opened the scoring in the 22nd minute through Juan Tejada, who claimed Championship Final MVP.
Three minutes before the halftime interval, sustained pressure from Colorado Springs was rewarded when Jairo Henriquez doubled their advantage.
In the 53rd minute the Switchbacks had their third through Haitian international Ronaldo Damus.
The victory capped the Switchbacks’ 10th anniversary season and maintained their perfect postseason record at home since the opening of Weidner Field in 2021.
As for Magee and Williams’ individual stats throughout the season, Magee scored three goals and provided one assist in 18 appearances while Williams recorded five assists in 36 appearances.
This win also makes Williams now a four-time USL Champion having won with New York Red Bulls II in 2015-16 as well as back to back titles with Louisville City FC in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
The 32-year-old Williams has been capped 35 times by the Reggae Boyz, most recently in a friendly against Guatemala last December while Magee, 25, has earned 13 caps for the Reggae Boyz, most recently against the USA in the Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinals last week.
De Bruyne describes 'chaotic' Man City scenes
Kevin De Bruyne conceded there has been some chaos behind the scenes at Manchester City, but refuted the suggestion there is a dark atmosphere.
City have lost their last five games in all competitions, while they are eight points back from leaders Liverpool in the Premier League.
Their dismal run of form continued with a shock 4-0 loss at home to Tottenham on Saturday.
De Bruyne, who has featured just six times in the Premier League this season and made just four starts, says there is not a bad mood in the camp, though.
"I wouldn't say dark, it's been a bit chaotic," said the Belgian ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash with Feyenoord.
"I've seen so many people pass around the medical area, sport science, whose playing and not playing. There's been so many people playing who shouldn't have been playing.
"The games against Sporting, Brighton and Bournemouth were all over the place. Tottenham was more normal.
"I didn't see too much change, everyone is down about the five losses. You have to move on."
City have already shipped 17 league goals this term, while they were beaten 4-1 by Sporting CP in their last European outing.
Since their losing run started with a 2-1 loss to Spurs in the EFL Cup on October 30, City have conceded 14 goals from 10.6 expected goals against (xGA).
"There's only so much you can control from the sides. It's not a nice feeling but it's fine," De Bryne added.
"It seems like we're not really dealing with the moments when it goes bad. There's moments like the Tottenham game which we do really well. The main issue is both boxes. We're conceding too many goals. I don't think we played a bad game the other day but we lost 4-0."
"If you give five chances against Tottenham, that's not that bad. They get two tap-ins. With the way we play, you have to accept there's more opportunity for teams to have a counter. At the moment, we're not dealing with this in a good way.
"We're always going to give a chance away. We're giving it away too many times. When we give a chance at goal, it's basically a goal."
De Bruyne is out of contract at the end of the season, though the 33-year-old is not overly concerned about his future.
"I honestly don't know. At the start of the season, I knew talks would happen but then the thing [injury] happened in Brentford. It was meant to be a couple of days and then it was eight, nine weeks. I put it all to the side," he added.
"I'm not too worried. I'm fine. I'm happy, I just want to play good football again and the future, we'll see.
"I only can really give you the answers, but I don't know. If there's no talks it will be my last year at the club, but I don't know.
"I had a conversation in the summer, but then I had the injury so I wasn't in the right frame of mind to talk about that. I need to be back on the pitch and be myself again. There's no rush, I don't feel uncomfortable, I'm not worried."
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