Newcastle 0-0 Crystal Palace (3-2 on pens: Wood, Trippier, Joelinton; Hughes Ward)
ST JAMES’ PARK — On the eve of the World Cup, Nick Pope proved his penalty mettle to give Gareth Southgate some pre-Qatar food for thought.
It was another former Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul who once wrote himself into World Cup folklore when Louis van Gaal summoned him from the bench solely for a penalty shoot-out against Costa Rica in 2014.
The Netherlands went on to win that match and with apologies to Jordan Pickford, Pope might be a compelling option to reprise that role after expertly saving three Crystal Palace penalties to secure in-form Newcastle’s passage into the League Cup fourth round.
Pope’s reflexes spared the blushes of teammate Bruno Guimaraes, who might not be on Tite’s list of Brazil takers after sending his spot kick into the stands after being summoned as a substitute.
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Huge changes to the Champions League are coming clunking down the tracks and with more match nights devoted to European football, the Premier League’s elite want to make fielding under-23 sides in the competition a condition of a new financial settlement with the EFL.
There has even been talk of “big six” clubs dropping out of it altogether to cram more meaningless group games into the autumn fixture list – surely the end of the competition as we know it.
Judging by the rollercoaster of emotions that the crowd went through, those sentimens are not shared by those in the North East – who are desperate to see their club end their long wait for silverware.
Eddie Howe certainly senses that, having emphasised to his players that they can become heroes in the city. His selection reflected the importance of this game, even with a huge Premier League clash against Chelsea looming on the horizon before the World Cup break.
With whispers on Tyneside that he has made the cut for Qatar, Callum Wilson was given the night off but Howe named World Cup-bound Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes among the substitutes.
With Palace making six changes of their own – Wilfried Zaha one of those omitted – it was no surprise that the contest was fairly disjointed. Indeed the only moment of first half note came when Nick Pope denied the lively Jean-Phillipe Mateta with a superb reflex stop. He has recovered well from the ignominy of that Wembley mistake against Germany and remains an able understudy for Pickford.
When Eddie Howe summoned his blue riband performers from the bench, Newcastle were dominant without ever looking likely winners over the 90 minutes. Instead they were to rely on spot kicks and the brilliance of their England international to book their place in the fourth round draw.
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