Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer took a dig at Brighton & Hove Albion as he heralded Magpies attacker Ayoze Perez during the clash with the Seagulls.
The Spaniard opened the scoring for Rafael Benitez’s side at the AMEX Stadium, and Shearer was as impressed with the Spaniard as he was disappointed with Chris Hughton’s team.
“A great first half from Newcastle and a brilliant goal again Ayoze Perez,” he wrote on his personal Twitter account. “Brighton look petrified,” he finished.
A great first half from @NUFC and a brilliant goal again @AyozePG @OfficialBHAFC look petrified. ##BHANEW
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) April 27, 2019
OPINION
It’s hard to disagree with anything Shearer says, here. Brighton did look petrified in the first half on Saturday. It was as if the pressure of their relegation battle against Cardiff City had rendered them paralysed. They barely mustered a meaningful foray into the Newcastle half and did nothing with the rare bit of possession they did receive. The Magpies were much the better team in the opening period and the hosts simply couldn’t deal with them. Perez summed up his team’s approach as, despite going down early on in the game with an injury, he soldiered on and eventually slammed the ball into the top corner of the Brighton net to give Newcastle the lead. He would have to be substituted shortly after, but his exemplified his side’s battling spirit and determination to get the job done on Saturday. Shearer clearly appreciated it, but he was less impressed by Brighton’s approach to what was a crucial game for them, even though they ended up earning a 1-1 draw.
