Rafa Benitez Rejects Talk of Crisis Following Newcastle's 1-0 Defeat to Brighton

Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has rejected the idea that his side are in a state of crisis after his side failed to score once again, falling to the bottom of the Premier League after their 1-0 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Magpies enjoyed a huge amount of possession and created numerous chances to score, yet consistently lacked quality in the final third as Brighton coasted to a comfortable victory. They are yet to win this season, scoring just six goals.

Speaking after the game, Benitez admitted that he was encouraged by his team's performance, but confessed that they must improve in future. 

"I think everyone can see that the team was trying everything. Sometimes when we talk about games we can’t win because the other team is too strong - it was the opposite today," he said, quoted by  The Newcastle Chronicle.

"We were in control and had chances. They had a corner which was not a corner and scored from that."

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He refused to blame a lack of investment during the summer transfer window, explaining: "I think it’s time to talk about the game. I talked about where we were before the start of the season. They managed the game well, they wasted time and did what they had to do. We didn’t create enough chances."

Benitez then struggled to describe the loss, before rejecting the idea that Newcastle are in crisis. The Spaniard added: "It’s a long race and a long distance so we must keep going. If we create that many chances we will score goals.

"Everybody can see the team tried everything. We had 27 attempts. They had a corner that wasn’t a corner and scored there. We have to be more clinical."

Newcastle must now move on from the defeat and prepare themselves for a tricky away trip to Southampton in the next round of the Premier League.