Newcastle United progressed to the 4th round of the FA Cup by beating Bournemouth 7-6 on penalties on Saturday evening. In a match that lasted nigh on three hours, United came back from 2-1 down in the 90th minute to snatch extra time from the jaws of defeat.
Tuesday will now be a much more difficult match with all the big guns being required from the bench but United eventually got the job done in subzero temperatures.
Newcastle’s goals came via a Harvey Barnes brace (again) and an Anthony Gordon penalty; and Bournemouth’s came via Alex Scott, David Brooks, and Marcus Tavernier.
Here are two good and two bad from the game:
Good: Progression to the 4th round (but at what cost?)
With Newcastle staring down the barrel in the 90th minute, you wondered whether all the effort and having to call on all the big guns was going to be for nothing. Instead, well worked late move led to a penalty, and Anthony Gordon fizzed the ball into the lower left corner of the net to send the game to extra time, an outcome neither manager probably wanted.
Then when Harvey Barnes scored in the 118th minute you thought: “finally, we’ve won it” but instead Bouremouth snatched penalties from out of completely nothing with Ramsdale, Thiaw and Botman conspiring to let the ball trundle into the back of the net via a Tavernier touch rather than simply dealing with the ball; it was all a little comical between the trio really.
I can’t have been alone in thinking we just didn’t need that sort of game with the League Cup semi-final upcoming on Tuesday, especially with our opponents Manchester City cruising to the easiest of easy victories at home to Exeter City, and that begs the question; did progression to the 4th round cost us more than it was worth?
Bad: Another big injury blow
Another unfortunate negative from progression to the next round was seeing Tino Livramento limp off, who following the game, Eddie Howe confirmed would be out for an extended period with a bad hamstring injury.
With the schedule United have, it was a devastatingly cruel blow to lose one of our better full backs. Especially with Trippier looking very much the 35-year-old full-back he is at times on the afternoon as he was caught out of position and struggled to get back/keep up with the pace of the Bournemouth wide men.
The squad is now so light on defenders that surely the club will have to pull the trigger and go into the transfer market during this window as we are down to the barest of bones at the back.
Bad: Snidey Bournemouth
I might get pelters for this, but I think Bournemouth are one of the snidest teams going. The niggly fouls, the cheeky pull backs, the time wasting; and it almost worked for them as they mixed it with a sprinkling of undoubted quality to nearly win the game.
Some will call it clever play to pray on a weak referee (United having to suffer another shambolic refereeing performance for the second game in a row) but how Scott and Cook made it to the 81st and 95th minute respectively before they were eventually booked beggars belief.
Iraola gets a lot of praise for the style of football his side plays but not enough is made of his sides “dark arts” and it’s funny because I imagine if the shoe was on the other foot (and as we experienced in 2022/23 when the media labelled us ‘housery masters) we’d never hear the end of it.
Thankfully it came up short on Saturday and if United have finally discovered a never say die attitude this season, it’s better late than never, and if it brings us another dimension to the side and we can start to shift the feeling that going a goal behind is terminal to our chances of winning games then we may just be able to continue picking up positive results despite not really playing all that well at all.
Good: Ramsdale’s redemption
Considering it was a diabolical error that sent the game to penalties, it was a hugely redemptive moment (or three) for Ramsdale to be the hero by saving three penalties during the shootout.
Considering the pressure some of the saves were made under (especially with Bouremouth having the chance to go 3-1 up in the shootout) and some of the criticism Ramsdale faced during his run in nets during Nick Pope’s injury layoff, let’s hope it’s a confidence restoring moment for the ‘keeper.
Additionally, with Ramsdale seeming to be the “cup keeper” this season (he’s played in all the rounds of the Carabao Cup too) I’d imagine it will be a tough decision for Howe on who starts the semi-final on Tuesday.
United will learn their 4th round opponents on Monday evening then; and if it’s not too much to ask football gods, can we please have a lower league side at home? Because I don’t think our schedule can handle another match where we need to go full strength.
Keep the faith. HWTL
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