Newcastle United 0-0 Brighton and Hove Albion - A dreadful game to end 2017

In a dire first half, Newcastle really struggled to get any sort of offence going.

Brighton were the first to create any sort of chance, when Shane Duffy rose highest to get on the end of a corner, but could only head over. That was sixteen minutes into the game.

Newcastle's first half chance arrived five minutes later when Mikel Merino found Dwight Gayle, who had spun off the last defender, but the striker fired his shot too close to the goalkeeper.

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Anthony Knockaert hit a right-footed shot at Darlow after that, before Glenn Murray totally missed his kick inside the box, thankfully he was offside anyway.

Duffy was a constant nuisance from set-pieces, and he blazed a shot over the bar when Newcastle had failed to deal with the cross.

The Magpies tried to carve out a chance when Joselu backheeled the ball to Gayle, who's shot was blocked, only into the path of Merino, who pulled his shot wide.

The Spanish striker, Joselu, then tried his luck from 25-yards, but his shot sailed wide of the post.

They did start the second half much better, and thought they had taken the lead early on. Isaac Hayden found himself in space on the edge of the box after a corner was cleared, and his deflected shot was saved brilliantly by Matt Ryan.

Brighton still looked dangerous though. Pascal Groß attempted to go low with a free-kick, but was denied by Karl Darlow.

The best chance of the game was created by Christian Atsu when he picked out Gayle in the box with a fantastic cross, but the former Palace man's header was saved by Ryan from point-blank range.

Newcastle then had their own keeper to thank when he was forced to stop a Lewis Dunk header from 10-yards. A good save by Darlow.

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There were some shouts for a penalty when Merino was challenged by Bruno inside the Seagulls' box, but the referee waved claims away.

The game seemed to be getting away from both sides, with a severe lack of quality on show. Atsu clobbered one wide of the target with five minutes to go, as the Newcastle supporters began to fear the worst.

And that was the last bit of serious action on the day. Newcastle failed to score against a team they pipped to the Championship title seven months ago. A draw, but not an ideal one.