Newcastle United progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup on Tuesday night after edging past Blackburn Rovers in their third-round replay at Ewood Park.
The victory was the Magpies’ first in seven competitive matches but came at a price ahead of their crucial Gameweek 23 encounter with Cardiff City on Saturday.
We’ll round up the main Fantasy talking points and injury updates from the six-goal thriller in Lancashire.
Blackburn Rovers 2-4 Newcastle United
- Goals: Sean Longstaff (£4.5m), Callum Roberts, Joselu (£4.8m), Ayoze Perez (£6.1m)
- Assists: Joselu, Jacob Murphy (£4.7m), Fabian Schar (£4.6m), Matt Ritchie (£5.8m)
Newcastle’s injury list lengthened after their success over Blackburn in last night’s FA Cup third-round replay, with Jamaal Lascelles (£4.7m) and Ciaran Clark (£4.5m) having to be withdrawn on fitness grounds.
Isaac Hayden (£4.3m) also picked up a knock in extra-time but the Newcastle manager at least had fairly positive news on all three of his walking wounded:
We have to assess them over the next couple of days.
Lascelles? I don’t think it is very serious. We had to make a substitution and we did what we needed to get through.
Clark went off at half-time with a knock to the knee but we will see if he is fine. I don’t think it will be serious.
(Isaac) Hayden was fine.
Benitez added that Lascelles’ issue was a hamstring strain – which he strangely played on with for ten minutes before being hooked – and said “we will see” regarding the club captain’s recovery.
The Magpies were already missing Jonjo Shelvey (£5.3m), Mohamed Diame (£4.8m), Ki Sung-yueng (£4.7m), Paul Dummett (£4.4m), Karl Darlow (£4.4m) and Yoshinori Muto (£5.6m) through injury or unavailability, with Kenedy (£4.8m) added to the sidelined contingent ahead of Tuesday’s tie after being ruled out with a minor nail problem.
Benitez said of the on-loan Chelsea midfielder:
He had a problem with his nail and the reality is he cannot put boots on – as soon as he puts the boots on, he is feeling pain.
He is getting better and I think in one or two days he will be OK.
While Newcastle are blessed with an abundance of centre-backs, Clark and Lascelles were two of the three stoppers who lined up at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Florian Lejeune (£4.4m), the third member of that defensive trio in the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea, was handed a breather at Ewood Park as Federico Fernandez (£4.4m) and Fabian Schar (£4.6m) played all 120 minutes of Newcastle’s extra-time victory.
Schar had initially been deployed in central midfield and impressed in that role alongside youngster Sean Longstaff (£4.5m), who was starting his second successive competitive match for the Magpies as Benitez’s availability issues in the engine room continue.
The Switzerland international ended up at centre-half after injuries to Clark and Lascelles and there are some Newcastle fans who would argue that the Magpies are actually a stronger side with Fernandez, Schar and/or Lejeune at centre-back, such has been the indifferent season that Lascelles has had on Tyneside.
The fact that the Magpies were pushed to extra time by Blackburn four days before their relegation six-pointer against Cardiff may not be quite as significant as it seems, either.
Fantasy managers who own assets of the Bluebirds would have been heartened to see Schar, Fernandez, Longstaff and Matt Ritchie (£5.8m) each last at least 109 minutes, though Benitez made eight changes to his starting XI for Tuesday night’s encounter and the likes of Salomon Rondon (£5.7m), Martin Dubravka (£5.0m), DeAndre Yedlin (£4.5m) and Lejeune didn’t feature at all at Ewood Park.
Christian Atsu (£5.1m), Ayoze Perez (£6.1m) and Hayden, meanwhile, all had their minutes managed after coming on as substitutes.
That Newcastle were pushed beyond 90 minutes at all would have annoyed Benitez, with the Magpies having raced into a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes thanks to goals from youngsters Longstaff and Callum Roberts.
The visitors were pegged back before half-time though, with Blackburn’s equaliser coming from a corner kick.
Newcastle’s vulnerability at set plays this season has been well-documented and the fact that they conceded another goal from a dead-ball situation will interest Fantasy managers who own the likes of Sol Bamba (£4.5m) and Sean Morrison (£4.7m) ahead of Cardiff’s visit to St. James’ Park this weekend.
Despite register attacking returns, Joselu (£4.8m) – who put Newcastle 3-2 up in extra time with a rebound that looked offside – and Jacob Murphy (£4.7m) didn’t particularly impress on rare starts and wouldn’t appear to be in the shake-up for a starting role for the visit of Neil Warnock’s troops.
Youngsters Roberts, Freddie Woodman (£4.0m) and Jamie Sterry (£4.0m) will also be back on the bench at best this weekend, though Javier Manquillo (£4.3m) was trialled at left-back in the absence of Dummett and may continue there this weekend if Benitez switches from a wing-back system to a 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1.
Substitutes Perez and Atsu will likely return to the attacking midfield positions behind Rondon on Saturday and it was the Spanish forward who capped off Newcastle’s victory, latching onto a Ritchie pass and firing a rising shot past home goalkeeper David Raya from an acute angle.
Benitez commented on the game:
The commitment and the team effort is there and you have to be pleased and carry confidence forward when you score four goals. The main thing is to get three points against Cardiff.
You wanted to win, you needed to win and to do it with the character they showed, with the reaction, and four goals: young players scoring goals, Joselu and Ayoze scoring goals, players who needed to score – that has to be good for the confidence of the team.
Newcastle United XI (4-2-3-1): Woodman; Sterry, Clark (Lascelles 46′ [Hayden 57′]), Fernandez, Manquillo; Schar, Longstaff; Roberts (Perez 94′), Murphy, Ritchie (Atsu 109′); Joselu.
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