27 mins Nick Pope came out of his box to clear the ball but only succeeded in gifting it to Pervis Estupinan. The Ecuadorian set up Kaoru Mitoma to shoot from distance but the visiting custodian blocked that shot with his foot. 

Sandro Tonali then made a hash of his opportunity to clear and Billy Gilmour tried his luck but was denied by Pope. He spilled it into the path of Evan Ferguson who finished from close range. 0-1

Half time:  Seagulls 1 Newcastle 0

65 mins Gilmour fired the ball forward to Ferguson, who took a touch and turned into space before hitting an unstoppable curler from the edge of the area between Pope and his left hand post. 0-2

70 mins Gilmour found Mitoma and at the end of his run forward he laid the ball to Ferguson, who again had time to take a touch and shoot from just outside the box. Fabian Schar half turned his back and lifted a lazy leg to block but the ball hit his other thigh and left Pope flat-footed.

The Irish teenager became the first player to bag a PL treble against Newcastle since Ferran Torres of Manchester City in May 2021 but he's not the youngest to have done so - Michael Owen was 58 days his junior when grabbing a hat-trick for Liverpool at SJP in August 1998.

Ferguson is only the second Seagull to score three goals in a match against the Magpies: Bryan Wade grabbed all four in a 4-2 win over us at the Goldstone Ground back in January 1991.  0-3

90+3 mins A ball curled over top by Sean Longstaff fell into Callum Wilson's path and he was able to evade the challenge of Jan Paul van Hecke before poking the ball past Bart Verbruggen. 1-3

Full time: Seagulls 3 Newcastle 1

Eddie Howe said:

"I thought it was a good start from the team, we were bright in the early stages and we had a couple of really good chances to score. When you come here and you get those moments you need to take them - we didn’t.

"Uncharacteristic goals to concede today. The first one was disappointing for us and that’s always key in a game.

"The second one was a shock to the system because at that moment it was a very even game and I sort of felt that they didn’t really cut us open. I think a 3-1 scoreline is damaging for us but I don’t think it reflected the whole game.

“It’s never been lost on me how difficult the Premier League is: 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. I’d like a game pretty quickly, if I could. 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."

On recent signing Lewis Hall - on the bench for the first time today:

"Lewis is building his fitness up I’d say so there was no temptation to start him because he has started at zero with us really having not played pre-season. We’re building him up nicely and he’s doing very well.”
 

Roberto De Zerbi said:

"I am happy for the reaction after the defeat to West Ham because we didn’t deserve to lose that game. We didn’t play a great game against West Ham but I think it was enough to win. We were unlucky.

"Today we played one of the best games in my time because we have to consider the opponent and the opponent is one of the best in the Premier League. Incredibly physical.

“We are working a lot. We are having a lot of meetings to speak about the details on the pitch. The second goal was fantastic because we worked on that situation.

“When the ball is with the centre back, he has to find the right position, the right body shape, the player between the lines has to move in the right way, they have to keep the right position.

"It’s fantastic when you can see your work and the improvement of the players during the game.”

On his hat-trick hero:

"I'm happy for him (Evan Ferguson) today, not just for the goals. Pleased for his performance, especially in the first half. He found the right positions. Newcastle defended 4-4-1, and there was space for him. He understood where the space was. He is working to complete his qualities.

"He can become big, big, big. His qualities are enough to become a great player. He can become one of the best, the top scorer in Europe. He was born in 2004, he's 18. I don't know how many players are young, that score like him.

"It's normal for Brighton to sell players. Important thing for Brighton is not to keep but to find the replacement. This is the right work we need to do."