The Craig Pawson show ends with spoils shared as Newcastle United leave it late to nab 1-1 draw with Brighton

Newcastle United avoided defeat at the AMEX Stadium on Sunday afternoon thanks to a late Alexander Isak penalty, but for so long, it felt like we would get nothing on the south coast once again.

The Credit Card curse remains intact, but at least Newcastle were able to bring a point home with them this time.

Newcastle started really brightly, and it felt like it was going to be our day. The high press was working, and we had a few early crosses into the area that suggested we'd overpower Brighton and actually get the win.

However, Brighton worked their way back into the game and they picked up the lead in the first half thanks to former Newcastle man Yankuba Minteh.

Yankuba Minteh came back to haunt Newcastle ... again

Yankuba Minteh has now scored twice against his old club (for which he never actually made an appearance), but we can't tell whether he was apologising to the Newcastle fans for scoring or trying to tell us that he loves Brighton now as his 'celebration' was all over the place.

The former Newcastle winger turned Tino Livramento inside out before faking a shot to wrong-foot Sandro Tonali, and then his shot clipped Dan Burn on the way through to fly beyond Nick Pope.

After that goal, Newcastle just looked defeated and bereft of any ideas.

Newcastle were awarded three second-half penalties, but only one was taken

In the second half, Newcastle came out of the block slowly but gradually grew into the game, becoming the dominant force. Anthony Gordon's introduction early in the second half breathed some life into the Magpies, who were awarded a penalty shortly after Gordon's introduction, which was rightly overturned by VAR after it was revealed that the foul was outside of the box.

A few minutes later, Joe Willock was fouled in the box and referee Craig Pawson pointed to the spot again, only for VAR to intervene yet again and overrule the decision, deeming Joe Willock to have dived, who was handed a yellow card for his efforts.

Then, in the dying minutes of the game, a Fabian Schar free-kick was blocked by an outstretched arm in the area and after a VAR check that went on far longer than necessary, a penalty was awarded to Newcastle, and Alexander Isak coolly slotted home.

There were nine minutes of stoppage time in which Callum Wilson forced a stunning save from Bart Verbruggen to prevent a Newcastle smash and grab.

It was far from a good performance, but we'll take a point from the AMEX. Now we just need Liverpool to beat Chelsea to keep them in their place.