January 08, (THEWILL) – After losing 1-0 to League One side Cambridge at home in St James’ Park, Newcastle was knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round for the second season in a row.
Joe Ironside grabbed the headlines with the game-winning goal just before the hour mark, but Cambridge as a team put up a tremendous effort, while Newcastle just were not good enough to win.
Cambridge would have been expecting going into the fixture as a chance to pull off a memorable cup giant slaying due to the hosts’ poor Premier League form. The visitors were never out of the game, and George Williams fired the first shot on target of the afternoon as a warning.
Yet, Newcastle thoroughly controlled the game as the first half progressed. In black and white, Allan Saint-Maximin looked menacing, but Jacob Murphy and Joelinton each had chances to grab the lead but fluffed them.
In the final seconds of the first half, Fabian Schar had the ball in the net, despite the fact that the Swiss defender was well offside before the flag was even raised. Just seconds later, Cambridge goalie Dimitar Mitov made another outstanding save against Murphy.
On the verge of halftime, an even better save deflected a stinging Murphy effort against the crossbar. When the Newcastle striker finally beat Mitov early in the second half, the flag was raised – it was considerably tighter than Schar’s earlier effort – and play was initially permitted to continue.
Newcastle were made to pay for not taking their many chances when Ironside handed Cambridge a shock lead despite controlling the play.
The striker was the first to pounce on the loose ball in the penalty area, and his effort was allowed to stand after a long VAR offside assessment.
As the game progressed, Newcastle became increasingly desperate, which, combined with Cambridge’s resolve, resulted in a reduction in the quality of chances they were able to produce.
Saint-Maximin huffed and puffed, while Miguel Almiron came on as a late substitute, but it was all in vain, and Mitov’s first-half heroics did not need to be repeated, save for one final Joelinton save.
Before the end of the game, Cambridge substitute Jack Lankester had the ball in the net, but his was the third goal of the day to be disallowed because he had drifted into an offside position.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
