SEAN LONGSTAFF’S EIGHTH goal of the season ensured Newcastle’s home campaign did not end in defeat as Brighton emerged from the long trip north with a point.
The midfielder cancelled out Joel Veltman’s opener in first-half stoppage time to secure a 1-1 draw which dented the Magpies’ hopes of reeling in fifth-placed Tottenham during what remains of the Premier League campaign.
It was no more than the visitors deserved on a day when Eddie Howe’s side struggled for the fluency which had helped them win five of their previous seven league games against opponents boosted by last weekend’s victory over Aston Villa.
51,997 watched on at St James’ Park. Alex Murphy and Mark O’Mahony were unused substitutes for either side.
Elsewhere, Michael Olise delivered another impressive display as Crystal Palace registered their fifth win in six Premier League games by beating Wolves 3-1 at Molineux.
Olise, the two-goal star of the show in Monday’s 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United at Selhurst Park, gave the in-form Eagles the lead in the 26th minute with a delightful curling strike, and was then key in the build-up to of their second two minutes later, scored by Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Wolves, having hit the bar via a Matt Doherty header, pulled a goal back midway through the second half when Matheus Cunha fired in.
Olise’s pass then set up Eberechi Eze in the 73rd minute to wrap things up for Palace, who were reduced to 10 men by Naouirou Ahamada’s sending off with five minutes of normal time to go.
The latest fine result in Palace’s strong conclusion to the season under Oliver Glasner sees them leapfrog Gary O’Neil’s Wolves into 12th place in the table, with one game left to play.
Olise now has 10 league goals for the season and Mateta 13 – 10 of which have come in the 12 games Palace have had so far with Glasner in charge.
And Yoane Wissa’s dramatic stoppage-time goal handed Brentford their first-ever Premier League win over Bournemouth after an incident-packed 2-1 victory at the Vitality Stadium.
Dominic Solanke’s 19th goal of the season looked to have earned Bournemouth a deserved point moments after Bryan Mbuemo had put the visitors in front with his 50th Bees goal.
But Wissa – who had set up Mbuemo’s opener – had the last word in the fifth minute of injury time to add to the Cherries’ frustration after Andoni Iraola’s side had seen two first-half goals controversially chalked off.
Mark Travers and Nathan Collins played the full game for their respective sides.
