Newcastle United were indebted to goalkeeper Nick Pope after the Magpies came away with point following a goalless draw at the Amex.
Pope made impressive saves to keep out both Adam Lallana and Solly March in the second half on an afternoon where Kieran Trippier and Fabian Schar also made goalline clearances to frustrate Brighton.
Here are five things we learned from the 0-0 draw.
READ MORE: Brighton vs Newcastle highlights
Newcastle escape with a point
As impressive as Newcastle's opening day win against newly-promoted Nottingham Forest was, this was the real test. Brighton also got their season off to a winning start, defeating Manchester United at Old Trafford, and the Seagulls have long caused Newcastle problems at home in the Premier League. In fact, the Magpies had never previously won a top-flight fixture at the Amex.
It was Brighton's first home game of the campaign and this felt like a better gauge of where Newcastle were at against a side who finished above the black-and-whites in the table last season. As Callum Wilson put it, Newcastle's most dominant performance in years against Forest meant 'nothing' if Newcastle did not build on it at Brighton.
However, it was energetic Brighton who were the better side in stifling heat. As well as being indebted to goalkeeper Nick Pope for a string of important saves, Newcastle also had Kieran Trippier to thank for, somehow, clearing Solly March's effort off the line in the 33rd minute and Fabian Schar for doing likewise to keep out Joel Veltman's drive late on. Brighton had seven times as many shots on target as Newcastle's sole effort yet, somehow, the visitors escaped with a valuable point.
Nick Pope is man of the moment
Nick Pope amusingly found himself trending on Twitter on the eve of this game after Newcastle supporters hijacked a Burger King poll, but thousands of users were tweeting his name for an altogether different reason on Saturday afternoon. After enjoying a comfortable debut against Nottingham Forest on the opening day, Pope kept Newcastle in this game a week later.
Having made important saves to keep out Leandro Trossard and Adam Lallana in the first half, Pope produced a stunning stop after the break to deny Lallana once more from close range after the attacking midfielder got his head on the end of Solly March's cross. Pope later followed that save up with another superb stop to deny March from close range.
It was an afternoon where Pope really did prove his worth. As former Burnley team-mate Stephen Ward previously told ChronicleLive: "Popey saves the unsaveable".
Newcastle need more firepower
For all the modest possession Newcastle enjoyed at the Amex - it has been a long time since Newcastle even had 46% of the ball in this fixture - the Magpies lacked a cutting edge in the final third. Allan Saint-Maximin was booked for diving midway through the first half while Miguel Almiron curled a shot over the bar when he should have at least hit the target from a decent angle. Nothing was quite clicking up top. Even when Callum Wilson had the ball in the back of the net, the striker was penalised for a high boot.
The closest Newcastle ultimately came to scoring was when Dan Burn headed over from Kieran Trippier's corner midway through the second half when the former Brighton man should have at least forced Robert Sanchez into a save. In an effort to try and impact the game, Howe threw on Sean Longstaff, Jacob Murphy and Chris Wood, but Newcastle simply need more in the final third after failing to force Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez into a save of note.
Although Newcastle are fishing in a very small pool, a new addition in the final third is a must in the final 19 days of the window. Howe admitted ahead of this game that Newcastle were 'no closer' to doing just that but the head coach added that 'hopefully the next week or so might be different'.
Sven Botman assured on his full debut
Sven Botman got the briefest taste of life in the top-flight when he made his Premier League debut as a substitute deep in stoppage time on the opening day. On Saturday, the Dutchman experienced the real thing from that start ahead of schedule.
Eddie Howe initially planned to ease the new arrival in, starting the campaign with Dan Burn and Fabian Schar as his first-choice centre-back pairing, but the Newcastle boss always insisted Botman was 'ready' to play after an impressive pre-season. So when Matt Targett was ruled out of the game with a dead leg, Botman got his chance as Burn moved across to left-back, a position he played on a number of occasions for Brighton.
Such a reshuffle can disrupt a settled backline, but Botman was assured, making a crucial block in the early stages to deflect Leandro Trossard's effort behind. Burn, meanwhile, filled in expertly on his return to the Amex and made an important intervention to keep out Danny Welbeck's shot with a sliding challenge in the 68th minute.
A very different mood in the away end
The last time Newcastle played at the Amex, back in November, Graeme Jones was in interim charge; Ciaran Clark and Isaac Hayden were still starters; and Jacob Murphy and Matt Ritchie were playing as converted wing-backs. Clearly, a lot has changed in the 280 days since - in so many ways.
Eddie Howe had not even been appointed as the club's new head coach when he shook hands with Dan Ashworth, who was Brighton's technical director at the time, on the way to his seat that night not knowing that the pair would be colleagues one day. Signing players like Sven Botman felt a world away for relegation-threatened Newcastle then. Indeed, at one point the away end even chanted: 'We're f------ s---' that night. In contrast, nine months on, Newcastle supporters quipped: 'Dan Burn - he left 'cos you're s---!'
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