AFC Wimbledon was “fuming” after Newcastle United was given a penalty.
With a 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon at St. James’ Park, Newcastle United has made it to the round of 16 of the Carabao Cup.
One goal, scored by Fabian Schar, was just before halftime. The stand-in captain put a penalty past Wimbledon’s goalie, Owen Goodman.
A good performance like this won’t give anyone much trouble when it comes to picking players.
It’s what the best teams do. They always go back and do their job, no matter who the other team is, who lines up, or how fast the game starts. That’s the kind of team Newcastle wants to be. It doesn’t matter if it’s Man City or Wimbledon; we have to play the same and keep our own standards.
Could a very different Newcastle team build on their best game of the season, which came against Manchester City over the weekend, when they played with their usual intensity?
Those who came in knew they had to do their best if they wanted to play more minutes against Everton on Saturday. But Howe won’t have too many problems making his choice for that trip to Goodison. Even though Newcastle had a lot of the ball, they had a hard time breaking down League Two Wimbledon.
Miguel Almiron thought he had scored in the 13th minute, but the goal was called off because he wasn’t onside. The Magpies didn’t have their first shot on goal until the middle of the first half, when Owen Goodman easily saved Sean Longstaff’s effort. It was the only save the Wimbledon goalie had to make in the first 44 minutes.
At one point, Harvey Barnes tried to end the game himself by cutting inside and shooting from far away, but his curled shot missed the target. Then, after only a few minutes, Miguel Almiron got Fabian Schar’s high ball over the top, but the Paraguayan player shot high. It still had no point.
Before halftime, it didn’t look like either team would score, but in extra time, Newcastle was given a penalty when Almiron went down in the box after Joe Pigott stuck out his leg. This made Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson “fuming” because he thought it was a “dodgy” call. Newcastle’s leader that night, Fabian Schar, stepped up and rolled the ball past Goodman. This made the Geordies and some of the bench people happy, and they slammed the ball into the ceiling of the dugout.
After the break, Newcastle tried to score a second goal. Around the middle of the second half, shots from Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock, and substitute Bruno Guimaraes were all stopped inside the box, and William Osula hit the outside of the post. However, the game eventually ended.
William Osula gives us a look and gets his own chant
The chance William Osula had been waiting for came up: he could make his first start in a Newcastle game. Will this be the first of many in the years to come?
That will have to wait for now, but Newcastle’s teaching staff had been keeping an eye on Osula ever since assistant coach Jason Tindall was Sheffield United’s number two for a short time. With his speed, work ethic, and size, this player has everything they need to become a Premier League striker. But Howe and his team knew they would “have to go to work” with the 21-year-old on the training fields to make him better.
It makes sense that the newcomer is still a work in progress. Four minutes had passed when Miguel Almiron put Osula in, but the Norwegian couldn’t get the ball out of his feet, and Joe Lewis, the captain of Wimbledon, snuck in to clear. After thirty minutes, Osula made a smart move to take the ball away from his defender. The striker then hit the bar with his first shot of the night.
When Osula was on attack in the 69th minute, he spun away from Riley Harbottle inside the box and hit the outside of the post with a powerful shot. Newcastle fans in the Gallowgate began to sing his name over and over to the beat of the Champs hit “Tequila.”
Before they speak up, Wimbledon fans pay respect.
The night at Plough Lane was going to be the best one yet. When Newcastle United came to town, no one could get a ticket, and there was no ball kicked in South London last week because of heavy rain.
Thank goodness, since then, everyone in sports has come together for the Dons. After Newcastle donated a huge £15,000 and helped with fundraising, more than 50,000 Geordies showed up for a cup match with only a few days’ notice. This was great for AFC Wimbledon, who are due 45% of the income share. It makes sense that Wimbledon fans put up a sign that said “Thank you, Toon” before the game.
As they took heart from their team’s strong start, they soon made a lot of noise in the gods. ‘Is this a library?’ and ‘Premier League?’ were repeated. “You’re laughing” and “May we sing you a song?” When Dons fans asked him to wave, Johnnie Jackson, the manager of Wimbledon, felt so at ease that he did.
Worries about injury
We still don’t know if this win cost anything. During the first half, Martin Dubravka had to leave the game because he got a “nasty bang to his knee” from a hard collision with Omar Bugiel. In the second half, Fabian Schar looked uncomfortable after falling awkwardly on his ankle. Ed Howe “hopes” the back is going to be fine.
When they play Chelsea, Newcastle will have to give a lot more.
The dream is still going strong. They still have a long way to go, but this competition is their best chance to finally win something, especially since Pep Guardiola said Manchester City won’t “waste energy” on it this year because there are so many other games to play.
It’s easy to see why Eddie Howe called the Wimbledon match “vitally important” and why Tony Pulis promised to put together a “very strong team” before the game. Those words didn’t mean nothing.
Newcastle had a tough game against Manchester City not long ago, and they had to prepare for a trip to Goodison Park on Saturday. However, the fact that Fabian Schar, Joelinton, Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff, Harvey Barnes, and Tino Livramento started and Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon came on shows how seriously the Magpies were taking the cup. That’s right.
Nick Pope said again, “we want to be the group that breaks the years without a trophy,” and Jacob Murphy said, “our goal is to leave a legacy—and this time go on better and win that trophy we’ve all been craven.” There’s a good chance Howe will play his best team when Newcastle plays Chelsea at St. James’ later this month in the fourth round. The black-and-whites will have to give a lot more than what they did at Wimbledon.
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