Alexander Isak's late penalty snatched a potentially crucial point for Newcastle United in their quest for Champions League qualification as they drew 1-1 at Brighton.

Substitute Yasin Ayari blocked Fabian Schar's free-kick with his arm, allowing Isak to stroke home in the 89th minute and keep Newcastle in fourth, three points clear of Chelsea ahead of the Blues' clash with Liverpool later on Sunday.

Yankuba Minteh had earlier haunted his former club with a well-taken opener, aided by a deflection off Dan Burn, 28 minutes into an otherwise quiet first half at the Amex Stadium.

Newcastle then saw two second-half penalties overturned in response – a VAR check finding Tariq Lamptey's foul on Anthony Gordon outside the area before it was deemed that Joe Willock had dived under pressure from Jan Paul van Hecke.

However, the third penalty decision proved a gut-wrenching blow for Brighton, who sit 10th, having fallen behind Brentford and Bournemouth in the hunt for a potential European place.

Both sides could have won it at the death, though, with the impressive Bart Verbruggen touching over Callum Wilson's drive after Diego Gomez had headed a glorious chance wide from Brajan Gruda's free-kick.

Brighton 1-1 Newcastle pic.twitter.com/SkJ2ZC0dEq

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Data Debrief: Newcastle's Amex struggles persist

Minteh, aged 20 years and 286 days, became the fourth youngest African player to reach 10 goal involvements in the Premier League (six goals, four assists) after Kelechi Iheanacho (19y 322d), Peter Ndlovu (20y 72d) and Alex Iwobi (20y 273d).

However, another late disappointment came back to haunt Brighton, who have conceded eight goals past the 89th minute in the league this season – only Southampton (11) have suffered more instances.

Isak was the one to inflict the pain on the home side, becoming the first Newcastle player to score 23 goals in a top-flight season since Alan Shearer in 2001-02 (also 23).

Yet for all of the penalty drama, Newcastle remain winless in eight Premier League away games against Brighton (D5 L3), the most times they have visited an opponent without winning in the competition.

Eddie Howe may have felt it was a deserved point, however, given Newcastle, aided by Isak's spot-kick, accumulated 1.75 expected goals to Brighton's meagre 0.62.