Right, here I am again, the third time in a week at St James’ Park.
After the grind down of Crystal Palace and the beautiful chaos vs Leeds there was a chance to make it three wins as well. The approach to this one was interesting.
The FA Cup has arguably been the one disappointment of the Eddie Howe era. Two exits to League One opposition and last season’s disappointing home loss to Brighton, have been a sharp contrast to the relative joy the League Cup has brought.
There were a couple of ways of looking at the role of the world’s oldest knock out competition in this campaign.
With a return to a solid sixth spot in the league, a Champions League campaign that looks set for the knockouts and a Carabao Cup semi next up, there was a solid argument the the FA Cup needed to come fourth and the best way was to rest as many first teamers as possible. The counter to this is that the semi-final is a daunting prospect, the Champions League is not a feasible trophy and the league form is unreliable, so it would definitely be worth having the FA Cup in the back pocket should all else implode by mid-February.
Given the crippling fixture list it felt like we could have done without this draw. Great to be at home, but a nice manageable lower league side would have been preferable, to a tricky PL opponent we cannot beat in the league. Again there may have been a counter argument here as Bournemouth, bereft of Semenyo and sporting an injury list that included last year’s tormentor Kluivert, would maybe offer less resistance than a fully stocked and pumped Championship side playing the biggest game of their season.
The counter argument proved flawed of course, as the likes of me turned up chilly and ultimately left many, many hours later freezing and utterly cursing the existence of Bournemouth as a football club/nuisance.
The big shock in the team announcement may have been a welcome one for many, as the inclusion of both Wissa and Woltemade and the subsequent assumption of a 4-4-2 formation suggested both a willingness to try something new and a determination to go for it.
I wonder if Eddie Howe was using this game experimentally to see if this clicked for challenges ahead, but if both are to play then some kind of back up is required, either through the reappearance of Osula or a move in the market.
The front two almost paid immediate dividends as Willock drove forward on the right and started a lovely flowing move that went through Ramsey and Barnes before Woltemade slid Wissa in on goal. He looked certain to score but gave Petrovic enough of a chance to produce a great save.
I’m going to go out here and say I didn’t like this first half. Willock and Ramsey didn’t grasp their opportunities in the middle and Bournemouth repeatedly played through us in a series of worrying breaks that the defence didn’t look comfortable with at all. As it petered out into a goalless half I started to accept it was to be a dour low scoring affair…
The second half didn’t take long to improve as the man of the moment stepped up again. Fresh from tearing Leeds apart, Harvey Barnes latched onto a sumptuous through ball from Big Nick and slotted in. Hooray, when’s the draw for the fourth round? If Botman’s subsequent header had found the net and not the bar we could have all settled right down.
A moment of annoyance then followed that isn’t going away for me. Willock was steaming into the box when the Bournemouth defender performed a pathetic swan dive that the referee was inexperienced enough to buy. From the subsequent attack Evailson found space to pick out Scott for a back post tap in.
I was initially annoyed with Bournemouth for keeping us about for an extra half hour but it quickly emerged that they actually had other intentions. Again the counter saw United flapping and Brooks steamed through our team. Botman got a tackle in but it just broke for Brooks to have another go and he smashed it into the corner.
As the clock ticked down I started to put it out that we just needed to stand down and let Bournemouth progress. The weeks ahead were not conducive to an extra half hour and the withdrawal of a limping Livramento just added to that anxiety. Despite this hyperbole, it was still a relief when Tonali was upended by the keeper in the final seconds of injury time and Gordon belted in the pen. Extra half hour then, it was starting to feel incredibly cold, especially with some people drifting off before the end.
Extra time started alarmingly as Botman had to clear off the line as Ramsdale came out, but the keeper soon made amends, with a stop from the marauding Evanilson. The game dwindled inevitably towards penalties when suddenly the teams decided to put all of the action of ET into the final couple of minutes. Joelinton powered forward and released Gordon, who produced a magnificent cross for Barnes to head in his second last minuter of the week. Relief, delirium and, er, disappointment as Bournemouth were allowed to walk through our defence and equalise through Tavernier. The mood was almost instantly lifted as Barnes returned the favour with the cross to Gordon, but he utterly fluffed the chance to knock in the goal that would have taken me out of the cold.
Penalties then. Gordon notched the first and Bournemouth did likewise, then Big Nick stepped up. We all remembered his stunning pen against Forest with confidence, so it was horrible when he crashed this one off the bar. A German missing a penalty? Only at Newcastle. Ramsdale rescued him by saving the next one from Evanilson.
There was more misplaced confidence as Bruno stepped up after his confident pen against Leeds, but this time he wasn’t fooling the keeper with his hopping, dancing and pifflery and we were back in debit when Cook scored the next. Tonali kept us in touch then Ramsdale stepped up again, saving from Jimenez to level things up again.
We then entered a period of high annoyance as Joelinton, Hall, Miley and Barnes all scored to give United a chance of victory. The venom I was using to will each subsequent Bournemouth player to miss and send me into the warm embrace of the lovely pub did not have the desired effect, as the miserable fun spoilers maliciously scored each time.
I had just about lost the feeling in my fingertips when Malick Thiaw stepped up to take a rather more German pen to make it 7-6 overall. This time Diakite was more obliging and Ramsdale pulled off another great save to finally finally send us into round four.
Bottom line is it’s all that matters in cup ties to get into the hat for the next round and to that extent it’s job done.
However, there are causes for concern as our two wins this week has involved shipping six goals, some of which were highly avoidable. The prospect of Man City, who notched a mere 10 in their win today, turning up for a massive game on Tuesday is a bit scary and everyone needs to be on it for that one, crowd included.
Hopefully though, this winning habit can continue, as a drifting season is looking full of promise on four fronts. That return trip to Wembley is still on, in what capacity remains to be seen.
Newcastle 3 Bournemouth 3 AET and NUFC win 7-6 on penalties – Saturday 10 January 2026 3pm
Match Stats
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Barnes 50, 118 ET, Gordon 90+5
(Penalty shoot out – Woltemade and Bruno not scoring BUT Gordon, Tonali, Joelinton, Barnes, Hall, Miley and Thiaw all scoring)
Bournemouth:
Scott 62, Brooks 68, Tavernier 120+2
Possession was Newcastle 63% Bournemouth 37%
Total shots were Newcastle 23 Bournemouth 22
Shots on target were Newcastle 7 Bournemouth 13
Corners were Newcastle 7 Bournemouth 5
Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 67 Bournemouth 32
Newcastle team v Bournemouth:
Ramsdale, Trippier (Miley 69), Thiaw, Botman, Livramento (Hall 59), Tonali, Willock (Joelinton), Ramsey (Bruno 79), Barnes, Wissa (Gordon 69), Woltemade
Unused subs:
Pope, Alabi, Neave, Alex Murphy
You can follow the author on BlueSky @bigjimwinsalot.bsky.social
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