After overachieving last season, both sides discovered their European groups this week, and Albion look considerably better situated than the Magpies to challenge near the top this time around.
Ferguson of the Republic of Ireland pounced from close range after goalkeeper Nick Pope mishandled Billy Gilmour’s long-range shot.
The 18-year-old curled home a 25-yard beauty to make it 2-0, and then added another via a fantastic Fabian Schar deflection for his 10th Premier League goal and first hat-trick.
He is only the fourth player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick before the age of 19, joining Chris Bart-Williams, Rob Fowler, and Michael Owen (four times).
Newcastle’s first effort on goal came in the 87th minute, and they scored in injury time when Callum Wilson raced down a long ball and fired home. However, it was far too late to make a comeback threat.
Slick Albion catches the eye once more.
Brighton’s continued success is a genuine oddity at the top level of club football, with an excellent set-up allowing them to continue even when bigger and wealthier clubs take its players.
When Graham Potter moved for Chelsea, Roberto de Zerbi took over and improved the team. When left-back Marc Cucurella joined Chelsea for £60 million, Pervis Estupinan took his spot and improved the Blues.
Moises Caicedo and Alexis MacAllister, their key midfielders, were sold this summer to Chelsea for £100 million and Liverpool for £35 million, respectively. And now they have three wins in four games, which puts them ahead of those clubs.
Ferguson, despite his enormous skill, may not have been afforded a consistent run of games at any club after leaving Bohemians in 2021.
They are in the Europa League for the first time this season, but if they can balance both, who knows what competition they could be in next season?
Before Ferguson’s treble, Solly March, Kaoru Mitoma, and Lewis Dunk all had chances to score, making him the first non-English player to score 10 Premier League goals before the age of 19.
Although it is still early in the season and they have had a difficult start in terms of matches, Newcastle, who learned of their Champions League group this week, have lost three of their first four games.
They had to make their first starting lineup change of the season, with Sven Botman injured and Matt Targett replacing him, and had two chances to score in the first three minutes, with Alexander Isak firing wide both times.
Unfortunately, those were arguably their best chances until the last seconds, when Wilson sprinted onto Sean Longstaff’s long pass to score a consolation.
