10 Things We Learned From The English Premier League Football Weekend (23-25 Sept 2017)

2. That Was Nice While It Lasted

Former manager Chris Hughton dealt Newcastle United's push for Champions League qualification a fatal blow in Sunday's sole fixture.

Us Geordies are defined by delusions of grandeur, which must have afforded the neutral a good laugh - even though the Champions League talk was, to quote the immortal Richard Keys, "just banter". In truth, there was no sense of clouded indignation come 6PM; Brighton, simply, were the far superior outfit. Their wing play bamboozled us, they were considerably more aggressive in midfield, and they defended very well. That might be typically exaggerated Newcastle fan hysteria, actually; a furious five minute opening salvo excepted, we offered next to nothing in the final third. The Joselu-lu-lu chant, already optimistic, is drenched in - yes - delusion. He missed Newcastle's best chance by dragging a first half effort wide. His confidence is already in tatters. He was far from the only poor performer on the day; Christian Atsu in particular was anonymous and wasteful.

The game was decided by a single goal. There was suspicion of a shove in the well-designed set piece build-up, but really, Newcastle fans had no complaints following a subdued, complacent and unadventurous performance.