Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer.placeholder image
Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer. | Getty Images
Aston Villa 1-3 Newcastle United: A Sandro Tonali brace and Nick Woltemade goal cancelled out Tammy Abraham’s opener as Newcastle progressed.
Newcastle United progressed to the FA Cup fifth round with a 3-1 win against 10-men Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday.
Tammy Abraham gave Villa the lead in controversial circumstances as replays showed the forward was in an offside position. But with no VAR in place in the FA Cup before the fifth round, the goal was allowed to stand.
Aston Villa were then reduced to 10-men at the end of the first half with referee Chris Kavanagh showing goalkeeper Marco Bizot a straight red card for a foul on Jacob Murphy.
Newcastle then felt they should have had a second half penalty when the ball hit off Lucas Digne’s arm. Replays showed the defender was clearly inside the penalty area but Kavanagh awarded The Magpies a free-kick instead.
Fortunately, Newcastle scored from the resulting free-kick as Villa were unable to clear the danger before Sandro Tonali lashed in his first goal of the season to make it 1-1.
Tonali then made it 2-1 shortly after with a stunning 25-yard strike before Nick Woltemade secured the win with a close range finish to pounce on a defensive error.
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‘One of the worst decisions I have ever seen’
BBC pundit and former England striker Wayne Rooney described the decision not to award Newcastle a penalty as ‘one of the worst’ he’s ever seen.
“That decision is one of the worst decisions I have ever seen in football because at no stage was Digne out of the penalty box,” Rooney said. “He is three or four yards inside. The linesman is just in front of it and you can clearly see how much he is in the penalty box.
“The referee looked like he blew and looked like he was listening to someone in his ear, so I'm assuming the linesman gave the decision, and it's an absolute shocker.”
Alan Shearer comments on NUFC win
Following the match, Newcastle legend Alan Shearer said on BBC One: “No thanks to the officials [Newcastle got through].
“Thank goodness the decisions they did make didn't make any difference. They had to do it the hard way Newcastle, and they did it.”
It’s now back-to-back wins for The Magpies as head coach Eddie Howe looks to turn his side’s inconsistent season into a successful one. Last season, Newcastle struggled in the first half before going on to secure a Carabao Cup win and Champions League qualification.
On Howe, Shearer added: “Social media isn't the place to judge opinions, especially on football, when results aren't going for you.
“Eddie Howe gave me the best day of my life as a Newcastle fan. At times, you can criticise, that's fine, but also for what he has done for Newcastle for his experience and all the other things.
“He was never under any pressure from me for losing his job. We have to hold onto him. If he was under any pressure, then the players have answered. That tells you what they think of the manager if he was under pressure.”
Next up for Newcastle is a trip to Qarabag in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Before that they will find out their FA Cup fifth round opponents at around 6:35pm on Monday evening when the draw is made.
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