Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle: Mags out on penalties after 92nd-minute mistake
The last time Newcastle won at Stamford Bridge, Lewis Miley was six years old as Papiss Cisse scored that stunning brace way back in 2012. We were just 90 seconds away from ending that run, but a 92nd-minute error from Kieran Trippier and 4-2 loss in the penalty shootout has dumped us out of the Carabao Cup at the quarter-final stage.
It was never pretty, we suffered more bumps and bruises, had just 22% of the ball and two shots on target, yet we limited Chelsea to few clear cut chances and battled through the fatigue to move just a few minutes away from a 1-0 win, until Mudryk's stoppage time goal swung the tie in their favour right at the death.
With Middlesbrough, Fulham and Liverpool/West Ham (to be played tomorrow night) left in the competition, it feels like a huge chance missed to end our trophy drought and go one step further than last season, giving us more heartbreak just seven days after we were dumped out of Europe. Football really can be cruel sometimes.
Howe made three changes from Saturday's 3-0 win over Fulham. Sven Botman came in for his first start in three months, Emil Krafth came in at right-back and Lewis Miley started in midfield, with the trio replacing Fabian Schar, Dan Burn and Joelinton.
Kieran Trippier was on the bench, alongside Chelsea loanee Lewis Hall, but Alexander Isak missed out once again, raising concerns over his ongoing groin issue that also kept him out last weekend.
STARTING 11: Dubravka - Krafth, Lascelles, Botman, Livramento - Miley, Guimaraes, Longstaff - Almrion, Wilson, Gordon. SUBS: Karius, Gillespie, Trippier, Dummett, Hall, A Murphy, Burn, Ritchie.
Less than two minutes in, Moises Caicedo raked his studs down Anthony Gordon's calf and could consider himself extremely lucky there was no VAR. It was a red card challenge, but he only saw yellow, with Levi Colwill also leaving his studs in on Krafth.
After a half chance for Gordon was blocked and Gallagher curled a 25-yard effort off the bar, we took the lead through Wilson. It was an early Christmas gift from Badiashile, but our number nine never gave up after a bursting run and poked past Petrovic expertly to score his 46th for Newcastle on his 100th appearance for the club.
https://twitter.com/SkyFootball/status/1737205859116101635
Chelsea had plenty of the ball after that, but a lot of their possession was sideways passes that rarely threatened. We were sitting a little deep at times, although our strong defensive shape, a huge block from Bruno and some smart defending from Lascelles to deny Sterling sent us into the break 1-0 up.
At the other end, Bruno had an effort of his own well blocked after a decent move down the right. A successful first 45 minutes, although it's fair to say Miggy Almiron was having a bit of a stinker, despite all of his efforts, with Gordon also on the fringes of the game down our left.
We made two changes at the break, as a battered and bruised Krafth made way for Kieran Trippier, with the other seeing Burn replace Botman. We had to hope the latter was a pre-planned change, as we couldn't afford to suffer another injury setback.
One player who definitely couldn't continue was Gordon, who looked uncomfortable from the restart and was unable to sprint when presented with a chance on the counter, meaning Matt Ritchie came on with 40 minutes left to play. It was a disruptive start to the second half and we weren't helping ourselves either, with us struggling to string more than a few passes together before Jackson fired just wide and Sterling forced Dubravka into a smart save after firing a low shot towards the far corner.
It was wave after wave of Chelsea attack and we were sorely lacking an out-ball at the other end. Wilson looked exhausted and couldn't make it stick, Almiron spent most of his energy tracking Gusto (who replaced Colwill at the break) and Ritchie was offering little attacking outlet. Fading late in games had cost us in previous away games this season and we had to ride this one out if we wanted to reach the semi-finals.
Just as we were crying out for an Isak, Barnes, Murphy or Joelinton, Pochettino was able to make the attacking change Howe craved, seeing £52m Frenchman Christopher Nkunku come on for his first competitive appearance for the club.
Physically, we were running on empty. Chelsea weren't banging the door down and actually did very little with the vast majority of the 76% possession we handed them, we just had to keep a hold of the ball better and had 15 minutes to hold on as the Blues brought on £89m winger Mykhailo Mudryk.
Livramento's header across goal left hearts in mouths and Gallagher flung himself in search of a penalty, but we survived both scares...until the 92nd minute. Trippier got it all wrong from a bouncing cross, allowing Mudryk to step in and slot past Dubravka. Absolute heartbreak at the death, seeing the game head to penalties when we were just 180 seconds away from victory.
https://twitter.com/SkyFootball/status/1737229766074446053
Lascelles won the toss and the spot kicks were taken at a packed out away end...
- Palmer...SCORES - Wilson...SCORES - 1-1
- Gallagher...SCORES - Trippier...MISSES - 2-1
- Nkunku...SCORES - Bruno...SCORES - 3-2
- Mudryk...SCORES - Ritchie...MISSES - 4-2
Utter heartbreak and another bitter, bitter pill to swallow on a brutal night for Newcastle United. He cost us twice late on, but we need to get behind Kieran Trippier. He joined the club when it needed him; now it’s time for the club and the supporters to get behind him after a really tough few weeks.
Next up, Luton away thi s Saturday, followed by Nottingham Forest at home on Boxing Day.
