Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has rejected the idea that his side are in a state of crisis after his side failed to score once again, falling to the bottom of the Premier League after their 1-0 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Magpies enjoyed a huge amount of possession and created numerous chances to score, yet consistently lacked quality in the final third as Brighton coasted to a comfortable victory. They are yet to win this season, scoring just six goals.
FULL-TIME: Newcastle United 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 1
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) October 20, 2018
Jose Izquierdo's first half strike gives the visitors victory at St. James' Park. Reaction to follow at https://t.co/6wuhjKS0XX. #NUFC pic.twitter.com/LRUZ6CAOvs
Speaking after the game, Benitez admitted that he was encouraged by his team's performance, but confessed that they must improve in future.
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He refused to blame a lack of investment during the summer transfer window, explaining: "I think it’s time to talk about the game. I talked about where we were before the start of the season. They managed the game well, they wasted time and did what they had to do. We didn’t create enough chances."
Benitez then struggled to describe the loss, before rejecting the idea that Newcastle are in crisis. The Spaniard added: "
We need to keep the fight in our bellies bottom of the league table and relegation looming #NUFC #NewcastleUnited pic.twitter.com/1wpVutcGtd
— vikki Saunders (@viks4girls) October 20, 2018
"Everybody can see the team tried everything. We had 27 attempts. They had a corner that wasn’t a corner and scored there. We have to be more clinical."
Newcastle must now move on from the defeat and prepare themselves for a tricky away trip to Southampton in the next round of the Premier League.
Source: 90min