Wednesday 1 March 2017 11:08, UK
Rafa Benitez was full of praise for Newcastle's reaction in fighting back to produce a dramatic late win at Brighton on Tuesday.
Newcastle scored twice in the last 10 minutes to beat Brighton 2-1, which has lifted the Toon two points above their title rivals in the race for the Sky Bet Championship.
Glenn Murray's controversial early penalty put Brighton in control of the game, but Mo Diame fortunately flicked his team level with a freak goal on 81 minutes. Brighton, who lost out in the play-offs last season, were rocked by the equaliser and substitute Ayoze Perez made it 2-1 with one minute remaining.
It felt like a big moment in the season but Benitez's men still have to face Huddersfield, Reading and Sheffield Wednesday on the road.
"It was difficult when you play against a good team," Benitez said.
"We deserved to score before [the equaliser] but sometimes football is like this. We had a very clear chance at the end of the first half and didn't score and after that the goalkeeper [David Stockdale] made a great save. [The equaliser] was unexpected and after that I could see the team playing with more confidence and control.
"We were not thinking about having a penalty against us in the first 10 minutes, but the reaction was good.
"We reacted well after 15 or 20 minutes and they were playing the way they like to play with good counter-attack, but we were managing that then little by little we took control and created more chances."
The key turning point in the game was Diame's freak leveller.
He hauled Newcastle level nine minutes from time as the midfielder unwittingly deflected the ball into the top corner after Christian Atsu's wayward shot.
Benitez did admit after the game that his side got a stroke of luck.
"I think we created a lot of good situations before we got a little bit lucky," he added.
