By then Newcastle's Anthony Gordon was out of this month's Carabao Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley after being shown a straight red card in the 83rd minute.
As Eddie Howe began assessing the damage, his Brighton counterpart, Fabian Hürzeler, celebrated the final whistle with abandon, his smile as wide as the Tyne.
Two hours of sheer entertainment had not only reaffirmed the FA Cup's enduring power to mesmerise but offered confirmation of the old adage about a team merely being as good as its strikers. While the 34-year-old Welbeck stepped off the bench to secure Brighton's fifth straight win, Alexander Isak's gangling yet supremely graceful presence had earlier threatened to mesmerise Hürzeler's defence into submission.
When Harvey Barnes, the otherwise underwhelming, lofted a clever cross across the face of goal, the Sweden striker, starting unexpectedly after recovering from a groin problem, saw his initial header blocked by Adam Webster. Although Isak could merely blaze the rebound over the bar he had emphasised his gamechanging potential.
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