Newcastle United overcame Blackburn Rovers 4-3 on penalties at Ewood Park to reach the 2023-24 FA Cup Quarter-Finals, following a 1-1 draw.
Sammie Szmodics and Harvey Barnes saw their penalties saved before Martin Dubravka diverted Dominic Hyam’s penalty onto the left-post to send Newcastle through to the Quarter-Finals.
Anthony Gordon earlier fired Newcastle in front from Miguel Almiron’s 71st minute pass, only for Sammie Szmodics to smash in an equaliser for Blackburn eight minutes later on the rebound.
Newcastle will discover their Quarter-Final opposition in the draw held tomorrow night (28 February) at 7pm GMT, live on ITV4 in the UK.
Elsewhere, Erling Haaland netted five goals for reigning champions, Manchester City in a 6-2 victory at Luton with Mateo Kovacic also on the scoresheet, whilst Jordan Clark scored two stunning goals for the Hatters.
Abdul Fatawu netted a 105th minute winner as Championship leaders, Leicester upset Bournemouth in extra-time following a goalless 90 minutes.
A turnstile issue forced kick-off to be delayed 15 minutes but once the match got underway, fans were treated to early end-to-end battles at a frantic pace.
16th minute protests involving tennis balls thrown onto the pitch by home supporters briefly halted play as Rovers fans staged a protest against owner – V H Group over their handling of the club, but play quickly recommenced soon afterwards.
Blackburn eventually created the first meaningful chance in the 27th minute as John Buckley threaded a diagonal pass towards Szmodics, but the Ireland international smashed his shot wide.
Newcastle failed to heed that warning amidst their dominance on the ball and almost paid the price four minutes later, as Tyrhys Dolan saw a strike flicked away from goal by Dubravka which narrowly avoided Szmodics just metres from goal to tap into the empty net.
Szmodics saw another chance go begging just a minute before half-time as he pounced upon a long pass and beat Fabian Schar, yet his shot was flicked over by Dubravka as Newcastle clung on to the break.
Despite Arnor Sigurdsson replacing Sam Gallagher at half-time for Blackburn, Newcastle continued to find themselves on the backfoot as Dubravka was forced into a 52nd minute save to deny Buckley.
Newcastle eight minutes later found themselves denied twice in a dramatic goalmouth as Jamaal Lascelles’ header was flicked away by Aynsley Pears, before Sean Longstaff’s poked effort was blocked off the line.
Eddie Howe’s Magpies subsequently went on to gain momentum as Gordon gathered Bruno Guimaraes’ 69th minute through ball, but he mistimed the power on his shot and Pears made a comfortable block.
That chance failed to spark Blackburn’s defence into another gear and two minutes later, Trippier teed up substitute, Miguel Almiron to play a low cutback pass across for Gordon to flick into the far-left corner to put the Magpies in front.
Blackburn consequently increased their intensity which paid off in the 79th minute as substitute, Dilan Markanday saw his strike ricochet off the underside of the bar via Dubravka’s touch for Szmodics to smash in on the rebound to restore parity for the hosts.
Neither team eventually found a winning goal inside the regulatory 90 minutes plus a further five minutes of injury-time, as Blackburn survived late waves of attack to force extra time whilst Dubravka made a crucial block to deny Yasin Ayari.
With the tie finely poised and Newcastle controlling the first half of extra time, Pears made two crucial blocks in quick succession to deny Gordon and Sean Longstaff from close-range in the 103rd minute.
Pears soon afterwards blocked substitute, Harvey Barnes’ header before Dan Burn headed over barely a minute later from a corner.
Newcastle experienced further frustrations in the 112th minute as Gordon then Guimaraes saw a close-range shot blocked out, only for Barnes to lash wide of the near-left corner on the rebound.
Barnes curled over just two minutes later in another misfire for Newcastle, before Szmodics teed Sigurdsson up a further minute later for Rovers but the Icelandic midfielder knocked his header across for Ayari who nodded wide.
Blackburn proceeded to finish extra-time on top but Newcastle resiliently kept them at bay to force a penalty shootout, which was Newcastle’s second shootout of the season after they lost to Chelsea in the Quarter-Finals of the Carabao Cup after a coincidental 1-1 draw.
Schar dispatched Newcastle’s opening penalty whilst Szmodics’ left-corner shot was saved by Dubravka, only for Pears to deny Barnes as Newcastle looked to double their lead and Callum Brittain quickly levelled at 1-1 after two penalties apiece.
Guimaraes, Sigurdsson, Elliot Anderson, Ayari and Gordon scored the following spot kicks which left Newcastle 4-3 up ahead of Rovers’ final penalty, as Hyam saw his penalty saved by Dubravka to send Newcastle through to the Quarter-Finals.
Dubravka’s save also meant that Newcastle have won each of their last five visits to Blackburn in the FA Cup, whilst Rovers are now winless in nine FA Cup meetings against Newcastle.
What’s Next?
Blackburn head to Swansea in a tricky Championship clash on Saturday 2 March at 3pm GMT, as both teams battle to avoid being sucked into a relegation scrap.
Eddie Howe’s Magpies face a tricky Premier League game at home against Wolves on Saturday 2 March at 3pm, as both teams battle for European qualification.
Teams
Blackburn: Aynsley Pears, Dominic Hyam, Kyle McFadzean (Koumetio 73′), Scott Wharton, Callum Brittain, John Buckley (Garrett 64′), Andrew Moran (Ayari 63′), Ben Chrisene, Sammie Szmodics, Tyrhys Dolan (Markanday 64′), Sam Gallagher (Sigurdsson 45′)
Substitutes: Harry Pickering, Arnor Sigurdsson, Leopold Wahlstedt, Billy Koumetio, Dilan Markanday, Jake Garrett, Semir Telalovic, Rory Finneran, Yasin Ayari
Newcastle: Martin Dubravka, Kieran Trippier (Livramento 90′), Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Joe Willock (Miley 62′, Anderson 116′), Jacob Murphy (Almiron 62′), Alexander Isak (Barnes 62′), Anthony Gordon
Substitutes: Matt Ritchie, Harvey Barnes, Emil Krafth, Loris Karius, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento, Miguel Almiron, Elliot Anderson, Lewis Miley
Referee – Jarred Gillett
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