Blackburn vs Newcastle: Joselu and Ayoze Perez strike in extra-time to secure FA Cup progress
Blackburn 2-4 Newcastle: Rovers came from 2-0 down at Ewood Park before the Premier League side showed their class to advance to the fourth round
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Your support makes all the difference.Rafa Benitez meant it when he suggested that Newcastle could not afford an FA Cup run this season; a victory might almost have felt like a curse.
He certainly gave the impression of a man with little to celebrate, as Jamaal Lascelles ended a farcical 11-minute cameo with a hamstring injury and Newcastle’s other players battled cramp and a gruelling half-an-hour of extra-time.
A sizeable travelling support cheered as extra-time goals from Joselu and Ayoze Perez secured a fourth-round tie at home to Watford, but Benitez is more concerned about Saturday’s Premier League home meeting with relegation rivals Cardiff.
With that in mind, Lascelles’ setback was the last thing Benitez needed. The club captain lasted just 11 minutes after coming on as a half-time replacement for the injured Ciaran Clark, appearing to pull a hamstring straight away and then trying to carry on. Benitez looked deeply unimpressed as the centre-back eventually hobbled back into bay.
Newcastle’s manager had done his best to exercise caution in his team selection, making eight changes to the side beaten at Chelsea on Saturday. In the game’s first quarter, it looked as though the visitors would be in for a straightforward night against their Championship opponents.
Just 56 seconds had been played when Newcastle took the lead, with Sean Longstaff taking on Joselu’s square pass, turning and striking a 25-yard shot that flew in via a sizeable deflection off Amari’i Bell. Longstaff’s first goal for the club was to be one of three scored in the first half by Newcastle academy graduates.
The second came midway through the first half, after the visitors had ridden a spell of Blackburn pressure. Jacob Murphy chased down the right, and after seeing his angled shot beaten out by goalkeeper David Raya, recovered to cross for Callum Roberts to sweep in a volley.
That was a satisfying moment for Roberts, as he marked the end of a long wait; the midfielder was making only his second senior appearance for Newcastle, four years after his first.
Newcastle might have had further goals; Raya had denied Matt Ritchie with his feet before the second goal, and Fabian Schar then headed over from the winger’s corner after it.
Yet Blackburn had shown plenty of adventure themselves even before pulling a goal back courtesy of their own Newcastle academy graduate. Adam Armstrong, who made 21 appearances for United amid a flurry of loan spells, timed his run well after Danny Graham, once of Sunderland, had chested down and played him through to slot a shot beneath goalkeeper Freddie Woodman.
In first-half stoppage time, the home side drew level. Lenihan, who had headed just over from a Harrison Reed corner moments earlier, had a second go from an identical set-piece, and planted the ball beyond Woodman’s reach.
Lascelles’ accident-packed cameo did nothing to help Newcastle’s search for their lost momentum. During his short time on the pitch, he almost presented Blackburn with a third goal. His skied clearance fell for Ben Brereton, seeking his first goal for his club, but he screwed his half-volley sideways.
Newcastle were struggling to regain their early attacking momentum, and Joselu ought to have done better than turn the ball wide of the near post after escaping Lenihan to reach Murphy’s cross from the right seven yards out. Then Isaac Hayden headed against the post from a Ritchie corner, but they could not save their manager from that unwanted extra half-an-hour.
It looked as if Tony Mowbray’s side might prevail; top scorer Bradley Dack, on as a substitute, slotted wide towards the end of the first period of extra-time after Craig Conway had headed down Graham’s chip into the penalty area.
Yet within seconds, Raya had spilled a Schar shot and Joselu, who may have been offside, was first to the loose ball to score.
With barely a minute gone in the second period of extra-time, victory was sealed, as Ayoze Perez burst in from the right on to Ritchie’s pass, and past Blackburn’s tiring defenders, to wallop a cross-shot beyond Raya.
Blackburn Rovers (3-4-3): Raya 6; Nyambe 6, Lenihan 7, Bell 5; Reed 7 (Dack 78, 5), Travis 6, Smallwood 6 (Rothwell 103, 6), Bennett 6; Brereton 6 (Conway 65, 6), Graham 7, Armstrong 7 (Nuttall 73, 6).
Substitutes: Leutwiler, Grayson, Butterworth.
Booked: None
Newcastle United (4-1-4-1): Woodman 6; Sterry 6, Fernandez 6, Clark 6 (Lascelles 46, 4, Hayden 56, 6), Manquillo 6; Schar 7; Murphy 7, Roberts 7 (Perez 94, 7), Longstaff 7, Ritchie 6 (Atsu 108, 6); Joselu 6.
Substitutes: Harker, Yedlin, Rondon.
Booked: Fernandez
Man of the match: Fabian Schar (Newcastle)
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)
Attendance: 14,228
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