Soccer-Newcastle survive late Brighton onslaught to claim crucial win

NEWCASTLE, England (Reuters) -Newcastle United withstood waves of attacks in an anxious second half to beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday and claim three precious points in a bid to secure their top flight status.

Newcastle, who took an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Ryan Fraser and Fabian Schar, were second-bottom at the turn of the year but an eight match unbeaten run has catapulted the Magpies seven points clear of the drop zone.

Eddie Howe's side now sit in 14th, five points and one place behind Brighton who have now lost four on the trot.

"It's eight unbeaten now and to do that in the Premier League, we're shooting up the table. We don't want to look back," Fraser told Sky Sports.

"It was a difficult game. We sat back when we shouldn't have. To see out the game, there were nervy moments but it's a massive win."

Newcastle took a 12th minute lead with a move started and finished by Fraser. The winger initiated a counter-attack by releasing Jacob Murphy, whose effort came off the post and Fraser was on hand to fire the ball into the bottom corner.

Brighton had barely taken a breath when Fraser created another chance two minutes later from a free kick, delivering a cross into the box for Schar to rise above the defence and direct his header past keeper Robert Sanchez.

Newcastle threatened on the counter and Brighton also had chances in the first half.

But it was the visitors who pulled a goal back after the restart when an unmarked Lewis Dunk beat goalkeeper Martin Dubravka in the air to head home from a corner.

The goal picked Brighton up and their pressure in the second half was relentless as Newcastle clung on to their slender lead.

But Howe's men stuck it out to claim victory and