Rafael Benitez bemoans one aspect of Newcastle’s display v Brighton

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Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez admitted that his side’s failure to “understand the context of the game” cost them in their 1-1 draw with Brighton on Saturday.

Magpies striker Ayoze Perez had given the visitors the lead with a first-half header amid a Brighton performance which lacked intensity.

In the second half, however, Brighton regrouped and were the better of the two sides, resulting in Pascal Groß’s 75th-minute header levelling the scores.

“We had the control, we created the chances to score and we expected in the second half they’d be pushing,” Benitez told BT Sport after the match.

“They were aggressive and they were fighting to avoid relegation, we needed to keep the ball better and our counter attacks were not good.

“We couldn’t do the same as the first half and were not as comfortable on the ball. They were desperate to win so we need to understand the context of the game.”

Newcastle’s next game sees them face Liverpool at St. James’ Park next Saturday.

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