It ended Newcastle 3 Bournemouth 3 after extra time, but United went on to win 7–6 on penalties.
Before each match, we ask one of our writers to come up with three positives and three negatives after the match.
An interesting game at St James’ Park…
Enough to talk about.
On this occasion it is The Armchair Fan.
POSITIVE
Result
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Ultimately, football is a results business.
The goal was to win the match and advance to the next round, and in the end we achieved that.
That’s four wins in a row in all competitions and we can carry that momentum into a crucial run of games.
Return of the entertainers
Wow!
The match against Leeds on Wednesday night was full of drama with a late, late winner, but this one was even crazier.
A dominant display before going 1-0 seemed to put the Toon in the driver’s seat and when we hit the crossbar it seemed only a matter of time before we would secure our place in the next round.
Unbelievably, just seven minutes later we were already 1-2 down and staring at an early exit.
With the clock ticking towards the end of stoppage time, Tonali won a penalty which Gordon buried at the Gallowgate End.
In extra time, Harvey Barnes scored a header with just two minutes remaining and Bournemouth scored an even later equalizer to ensure a penalty shootout. At this point it looked like the match would never end with two misses apiece meaning sudden death was necessary to separate the two sides.
United eventually won 7-6. Are the entertainers back, combined with the late drama and many goals on Wednesday evening?
Penalty kick record
Growing up in the 1990s and supporting both NUFC and England, I had learned to fear the pain of penalty shootouts and the inevitable defeat they would bring.
Fortunately, both teams are now looking to improve on previous dreadful records, with the Toon having enjoyed success against Newport, Crystal Palace, Blackburn, Nottingham Forest and now Bournemouth in recent years.
POSITIVE
Extra time
The only thing we didn’t want with so many games to play was an extra thirty minutes.
Fortunately, the third round replays were canceled some time ago, but this was still extra playing time for a team that may be exhausted.
Another fixture
Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted we won, but perhaps one or two fans could be forgiven for thinking a weekend off in mid-February would have done us some good after such a hectic schedule.
Instead, we have another match and we don’t know yet who the opponent is, or whether we will be home or not.
Everything will be announced on Monday evening.
Injuries
After a number of defensive injuries, the sight of Tino Livramento limping while holding his hamstring was the last thing we wanted to see.
Things almost got worse when Thiaw went down with possible head injuries. Luckily he was able to stay, but the price for the recent success is that all these games take their toll on the team and bring it to breaking point.
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