Despite one of the worst refereeing performances you are ever likely to witness, Newcastle United found a way to overcome Aston Villa’s 10 men, Chris Kavanagh and his incompetent linesman, to move into the last 16 of the FA Cup!
A 3-1 win was fully deserved, featuring one Villa goal that should never have stood, one red card, a yellow that should’ve been red, a penalty that was given as a free kick (!), a Sandro Tonali brace and a much-needed goal for Nick Woltemade to end an up-and-down night on an almighty high!
This is now two away games in a week where we’ve overcome adversity, dug deep, been the better side for much of the 90 and found a way to win. Considering how low St James’ Park felt after that Brentford defeat one week ago, Bruno Guimaraes’ absence and today’s refereeing howlers, that’s big and a huge platform to build on.
Eddie Howe made SIX changes from our midweek win, as Ramsdale, Hall, Tonali, Murphy, Woltemade and Osula replaced Pope, Botman, Bruno, Willock, Elanga and Gordon, seeing us switch to a 4-4-1-1 formation.
Botman was ‘rested’, Wissa missed out with a ‘knock’ and Bruno was absent alongside Miley, Joelinton, Livramento, Schar and Krafth, with our skipper set to miss eight to 10 weeks following a hamstring tear.
Newcastle XI: Ramsdale – Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall – Tonali, Ramsey – Murphy, Woltemade, Barnes – Osula
Substitutes: Pope, Ruddy, A Murphy, Shahar, Willock, Gordon, Elanga, Seung-soo Park, Neave
Aston Villa XI: Bizot – Bogarde, Lindelof, Torres, Digne – Onana, Luiz – Bailey, Barkley, Rogers – Abraham.
We started confidently, dominating possession, moving the ball quickly and getting Woltemade into the game, as the big German got plenty of touches in that No.10 role, but not enough in attacking areas to really trouble the home side.
Our promising start was quickly spoilt as a quick Villa free kick was turned home by Abraham. A poor goal to concede, yes, but replays showed the former Chelsea striker was a yard offside. VAR to the rescue? Not tonight, as it is not used in the competition until the fifth round! Another sickener, just days after Joe Willock’s strike at Spurs was chalked off by an eyebrow.
Hall had started well and Barnes was a threat, with our top scorer hitting the side netting on 34 minutes after being found by Osula, who had been pretty wasteful prior to that. Again, our possession play had been good, but our lack of shots or quality in key moments was noticeable.
Then came more awful refereeing. After waving away two Newcastle penalty shouts from Hall and Barnes, Chris Kavanagh and his officials then missed a high and dangerous tackle from Lucas Digne on Jacob Murphy. Our winger was left with a big gash on his leg and Digne’s challenge was nowhere near the ball, but he only saw yellow.
A red card was awarded before the break, however, as Marco Bizot wiped out Murphy just as we had bodies breaking towards an unguarded goal. So, 10 vs 11 heading into the second half, but we had to make it count and start to threaten in the final third, with moments of quality needed to break down a Villa side about to sit deep.
In the Premier League, that’d be chalked off for offside but there’s no VAR in this round of the FA Cup…
Tammy Abraham with a tidy finish 👏 pic.twitter.com/nWnELL7bPJ
— george (@StokeyyG2) February 14, 2026
No changes at the break and we made a sloppy start, featuring a careless offside from Murphy, who had offered very little, and two sloppy passes from Trippier. Our struggle to break down a low block was going to be severely tested here, made even tougher without Bruno’s creativity.
Then came more atrocious refereeing and genuinely one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in a match full of mistakes. Digne, who should’ve been off, handled Murphy’s cross in the box. Kavanagh blew…for a free kick! Speechless. A blatant handball, two yards into the box, and he and his linesman were the only two inside Villa Park who thought it was outside the area!
Thankfully, justice was served immediately, as the resultant free kick was half-cleared before Tonali fired a deflected effort in off Luiz. It was scrappy, but it was more than deserved after shocking calls at both ends had already cost us.
1-1, comeback well and truly on, and it was soon complete. Gordon and Elanga came on, another ball fell loose to Tonali and the Italian produced an absolute thunderbolt into the bottom corner, celebrating with passion in front of the travelling away end before embracing Eddie Howe.
And it soon got even better. Villa played their way into trouble, Willock capitalised, found Woltemade in the box and the big man did the rest. 3-1, an end to his goal drought and deserved goal on his 24th birthday. JUSTICE.
Next up for Newcastle, a Champions League trip to Qarabag on Wednesday, followed by Man City away in the Premier League next Saturday. Tough trips in different ways,
Keep the faith. Howay the lads!
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