The FA Cup returned this midweek with fixtures in the Fifth Round, starting with four games last night. Amongst the matches that decided the first four contestants in the FA Cup Quarterfinals were Coventry hosting Maidstone United at Coventry Building Society Arena, former English Premier League winners Leicester City’s trip to Vitality Stadium to face Bournemouth, an all-Premier League affair at Kenilworth Road and the Blackburn Rovers-Newcastle United game at Ewood Park. Only one game from these four went to the full distance of penalty shootout after a stalemate in the normal playing minutes plus extra time, and the Magpies only just survived Blackburn’s resilience to advance to the FA Cup Quarterfinals.
Szmodics Cancelled Out Gordon’s Opener
Prior to this FA Cup Quarterfinals decider between the EFL Championship side Blackburn Rovers and 10th-placed Premier League team Newcastle United at Ewood Park, the former only won once in the new manager John Eustace’s reign, who managed the team for the first time against Stoke City earlier this month, whereas similar fate was witnessed in the Magpies, who only triumphed once in four trials in the English top-flight football, that was, a 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest about two and a half weeks ago.
The game remained goalless for 70 minutes, until Anthony Gordon drew first blood for the visitors. The young England winger was there when Miguel Almirón, who came into the game as a 62nd-minute replacement to Jacob Murphy, delivered a cross into the dangerous zone, and Gordon slotted home the opening goal of the game past Aynsley Alan William Pears with a loose effort.
Just when everyone thought Gordon’s opener was sufficient to send Howe’s men to the FA Cup Quarterfinals, Blackburn Rovers stormed back to score an equaliser, courtesy of 28-year-old striker Sammie Szmodics. Magpies captain Jamaal Lascelles committed a blunder in his attempt to clear the ball off a Blackburn throw-in, allowing replacement Arnór Sigurðsson to charge into the penalty box, followed by finding Dilan Markanday to have a shot at the Newcastle goal. His subsequent effort was met by the bar, but Szmodics was there to convert the equaliser into the back of the net. With both teams unable to score more in the remainder of the normal playing time and extra time, the game was to be decided on penalties.
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Magpies Advanced to the FA Cup Quarterfinals with a 4-3 Score Line in Shootout
Both teams went back and forth for a chance to reach the FA Cup Quarterfinals via the penalty shootout. Fabian Schär was the first player to step up on the spot, and he managed to convert his chance. The same cannot be said for Szmodics, who has impacted the game by making things all square again late in the second half, as he missed Blackburn Rovers’ inaugural spot kick in the shootout. Fortunately to him, Harvey Barnes also failed to find the back of the net with his effort, allowing Callum Brittain to level things up.
The Magpies and Rovers players showed their cool and found successes in the following five penalties through Bruno Guimarães, Sigurðsson, Elliot Anderson, Yasin Ayari, and Gordon, leaving Dominic Hyam for the final kick of the game. To the home team’s disappointment, the Scotland international’s strike was saved by the goalie, meaning instead of Eustace’s Rovers, Howe’s Premier League outfit were the team who progressed to the FA Cup Quarterfinals.
Another team who also reached the FA Cup Quarterfinals were defending winners of the competition Manchester City, who went on to humiliate Luton Town 6-2 on the latter’s home. Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens owe a big favour to Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne in that total destruction as the latter assisted four of the former’s five goals against Luton, while City’s sixth and final goal was scored by new summer signing from Chelsea Mateo Kovačić. Read this article if you are interested to know all the actions happened between the Luton Town-Manchester City clash in the FA Cup Fifth Round.
Howe Delighted with the Magpies FA Cup Quarterfinals-Bound
Howe was satisfied with Newcastle United‘s performance that saw them FA Cup Quarterfinals-bound, especially after the difficult events unfolded earlier this season. “Obviously a lot was riding on the outcome so I thought the players handled the moment brilliantly, the goalkeeper and outfield players who took the penalties. It was big moment in our season at such a crucial stage. The players are desperate to achieve. No-one is underestimating the importance of the FA Cup”, noted Howe during the post-match conference.
The 46-year-old also offered praises for his shot stopper Martin Dúbravka, who was influential in saving multiple penalties in the shootout to lead the Magpies to the FA Cup Quarterfinals, saying “The two penalty saves were huge for us but in open play I thought he really performed well and we needed him to because they had a few big moments. He’s been playing feeling slightly ill and he deserves huge credit for doing that. He’s been playing feeling slightly ill and he deserves huge credit for doing that. He was nowhere near fit for the weekend against Arsenal and hasn’t been 100 per cent for quite a long period of time”.
Despite his side now advanced to the FA Cup Quarterfinals, Howe thought that Newcastle United should have finished the game with their abundant chances in the opening 45 minutes as well as the second half instead of having to wait until the result of the cruel penalty shootout. “I thought we got better as it went on. I don’t think the first half was particularly good, I thought the second half was better and extra time was our best spell of the game by a long way. Really we shouldn’t have allowed it to go to penalties with the chances we missed in extra time.”
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FA Cup quarter-final bound 💪
Thank you for your magnificent backing at Ewood Park this evening.
Safe journey home. 🖤🤍 pic.twitter.com/xL5A9mYssw
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) February 28, 2024
