The geordie boys headed to Ewood Park fresh off the back of their footballing lesson from the university of Mikel Arteta. With Blackburn Rovers sitting 4 points off the relegation zone this was the perfect opportunity for Eddie Howe’s men to get back to winning ways. Rovers’ fans continued their ongoing protest against their owners ‘Venky’s’ by launching tennis balls onto the pitch, this level of organisation seemed to rub off on the Blackburn defence as they stayed strong despite Newcastle dominating the first half. Blackburn only looked threatening when Sammie Szmodics got the ball at his feet, and he gave us an insight into why he’s the championship top goal scorer as he looked dangerous from all areas of the pitch. 18 goals in 32 games for the Colchester native already this season and he shows no signs of slowing down.
The second half was noneventful for both teams and on the 60th minute, following a goal line scramble in Blackburn’s box, Eddie Howe decided to change things up with a triple substitution, introducing 17-year-old prodigy Lewis Miley to the pitch alongside Harvey Barnes and Miguel ‘Miggy’ Almiron. Rovers’ manager John Eustace seemed to admire Howe’s tactical change and decided to make his own triple substitution, bringing off winger Tyrhys Dolan alongside the midfield pairing of Buckley and Moran, much to the surprise of the Blackburn fans. On the 68th minute mark the best chance of the match fell to Anthony Gordon who went one on one with Pears only to be denied by the Blackburn keeper. However, two minutes later Gordon quickly made amends for his miss, putting Newcastle one nil up with a smart finish from inside the box. This goal set the game on fire with tackles beginning to fly in from all areas of the pitch. A mistake from Jamal Lascelles saw Dillon Markanday fire a shot against the bar, only for the ball to fall to the feet of the one-man Newcastle would not want it too, Sammie Szmodics, who easily finished into an empty net. At 1-1the game was perfectly poised, and it was Blackburn who looked the more likely to get the winning goal. A strong save from Dubravka following a deflection was the closest the Rovers got but neither team did enough, and extra time awaited.
The first half of extra time saw both teams slightly hesitant to attack, not wanting to give away any cheap goals. It seemed that if a goal was going to come from either side it would be from the team in black and white. The fresh legs of Livramento, following the substitution of Trippier, was beginning to cause problems down the right flank for Blackburn. A mistake at the back from the Rovers left Gordon with the perfect chance to give his side the lead, however his shot was saved and so was the rebound from Longstaff. A miraculous double save from Pears kept Blackburn level going into half time of extra time. The final half saw both teams being caught wide open with massive chances. As the game gets closer and closer to its conclusion, it seems like it just won’t be Newcastle United’s day as Bruno Guimaraes misses an absolute sitter. A last-minute free kick for Blackburn comes to nothing and it will be penalties that decides which team progresses. After 5 penalties and 4 scored for Newcastle the pressure fell to the Blackburn Rovers captain Dominic Hyam, who needed to score to keep Blackburn in it. The pressure was just too much for the Scotsman and Dubravka made a confident save to be the hero and give the Newcastle fans something to sing about as they made the 3-hour trip back home. Newcastle are still in the hunt for the FA Cup, just about.
By Logan Johnson
Step 