Sports Analysis
Birmingham City 2-3 Newcastle United: Joe Willock scores twice to send Eddie Howe’s side into FA Cup fifth round
Match report as Newcastle reach FA Cup fifth round with thrilling win over Birmingham City; Ethan Laird gives Blues lead inside 40 seconds; Joe Willock levels with dubious equaliser; Callum Wilson puts Newcastle ahead; Tomoki Iwata scores stunning equaliser; Willock nets late winner
Joe Willock struck twice as Newcastle came from behind to beat Birmingham City 3-2 in a pulsating FA Cup fourth-round tie at St Andrew’s.
Eddie Howe’s much-changed side capped a fine week thanks to Willock’s late winner having reached the Carabao Cup final with victory over Arsenal on Wednesday.
League One leaders Birmingham pushed their Premier League visitors all the way, taking a shock lead inside the opening 40 seconds when Keshi Anderson peeled away at a corner and headed the ball across goal for Ethan Laird to fire in.
Nick Pope produced a fine save to push away Anderson’s volley before Newcastle hit back. Bailey Peacock-Farrell appeared to have made a wonderful close-range save to keep out Joe Willock but, with goal-line technology not in use in the FA Cup at grounds below the Championship, the assistant referee flagged to signal the ball had crossed the line.
And just five minutes later, Newcastle led after William Osula managed to miss an open goal from two yards, inadvertently flicking the ball up behind him for Callum Wilson, making his first start since May 2024, to stab home and spare his team-mate’s blushes.
Willock had a third correctly ruled out for offside before Birmingham’s dangerman Stansfield headed wide a good chance from close range.
But the hosts levelled in style when Iwata hammered an unstoppable drive into the top corner from the edge of the box to cap a wonderful half of action.
The second period couldn’t live up to the standards of the first as the tie turned scrappy with Blues midfielder Marc Leonard carried off on a stretcherafter he slid in on Lewis Miley while Newcastle centre-back Dan Burn limped off.
Newcastle ramped up the pressure heading into the closing stages and finally, it told when Willock slotted through the legs of Peacock-Farrell from an angle to send the visitors through.
Willock: It’s not been an easy season for me
Newcastle midfielder Joe Willock told the BBC:
“I was just trying to give my best. It has not been an easy season for me, I’ve been waiting for my chance to push on and hopefully this is the start of the rest of my season.
“It’s very exciting times. It’s not an easy place to come to, but we want to thank the fans. Hopefully, we can go one better this time in the Carabao Cup [final] and far in this competition.”
Howe: Injuries are the last thing we need
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe told the BBC:
“It was a tough game for us. Mentally, physically – you could see a few players were on the edge today. We’re delighted to get through.
“I thought it was going to be a difficult night before the game. [The early goal] made it doubly difficult because the atmosphere in the stadium totally changed. We managed to get a foothold and did really well. At half-time, it was about staying calm. I thought we did that a lot better in the second half.”
On injuries: “In the last couple of weeks we seem to have picked up a couple. It would be the last thing [we need] to derail us. We have such a small squad. Last season we had big numbers of players out and it disrupted us in the middle of the season.
“We were forced to take Dan Burn off. It was something with his groin. Fingers crossed it’s not too bad.”
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Gary Neville believes Manchester United have become worse under Ruben Amorim and warned the Portuguese: “It can’t keep going on like this.”
Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace put Amorim’s United back to square one after three straight wins over Rangers, Fulham and Steaua Bucharest.
It was the 39-year-old’s fifth league defeat in seven matches at Old Trafford since taking over – the quickest any Manchester United manager has reached that number of home top-flight losses in Premier League history.
And Neville believes the pain is only going to continue for Amorim, his players and the United fans between now and the end of the season.
“I thought it would get better when Ruben Amorim came in, the enthusiasm of him and the new system, the players would buy into and we’d see a bounce,” he told the Gary Neville Podcast.
“But we’ve seen the absolute opposite and it’s got a lot worse – and that’s surprising.
“There’s going to be a lot more pain towards the end of the season and it’s going to be damaging – because they’re obviously going to stick with Amorim. But the more you lose, the more difficult it is for the manager to convince the players of his idea.
“In the very early days he said, ‘I will not change my idea’ and you need the players to buy into that. If they keep losing and they keep getting criticised and the spotlight comes on them more and the fans are leaving unhappy, you know it creates a feeling and you can’t keep losing.
“You just can’t. It will depress the thoughts of the players to a point whereby they’ll start to lose faith in the idea and it’ll damage you.
“He can’t change his approach now because he’s died in the ditch on it and rightly so. But he’s lost more games at Manchester United than he lost in the last 75 at Sporting Lisbon which is just absolutely alarming, so he will not be enjoying this.
“It can’t keep going on as it is and they somehow have to start playing better – because at this moment in time it’s a very sorry situation when you watch United play.”
United’s latest defeat came in bizarre circumstances as Amorim chose midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has his centre-forward option, leaving recognised strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee on the bench.
Amorim’s side struggled in front of goal once again and in a further twist of irony, Palace’s recognised forward Jean-Philippe Mateta got both goals in the 2-0 victory.
Neville believes Amorim’s team selection gave Palace a lot of confidence to pick up that win and said while United’s head coach cannot change his style of play now, he must make some tweaks.
“The only thing I can think he’s doing is one of two things – experiment to the point whereby he’s just trying to find a solution that works in the system he wants to play, or he doesn’t like the strikers he’s got,” said Neville about Mainoo’s centre-forward selection.
“I thought Bruno Fernandes was going to play in that position or Alejandro Garnacho might play up front and Fernandes to the right; when I saw Mainoo as a centre-forward or dropping in to that position, I thought it’s okay, you’ll get control in the game and you can get decent football. And it can con you, it can kid you.
“It’s about putting the ball in the back of the net, it’s about getting bodies in the box, it’s about getting bodies across defenders and making sure that you’re really creating chances and that’s not going to happen that much with Mainoo up front as everything has to be perfect.
“In Mainoo, Garnacho and Amad Diallo you’ve got three quite lightweight players – really talented good players – but everything has to be absolutely perfect. And from a Crystal Palace point of view, if I’m a defender, I’m thinking I fancy that I’m going to outmuscle them.
“They are sharp and they chip in with goals, but they’re not rapid quick and there’s no real goalscorers there, so as a defender I’m thinking: ‘We’ve got a chance.’
“I’m not saying that if they saw Rasmus Hojlund up front all of a sudden they’d be starting to panic but they’d be thinking at least they’ve got a physical presence and they’ve got a battle. Joshua Zirkzee is a big lad.
“I’m not saying they’re brilliant players, but I just felt that when I saw that team I thought Crystal Palace would be fancying it.
“He’s got to simplify it a little bit. While he might not like Hojlund, he might not think Zirkzee is great and might not like other players, he’s got to pick the players that he has and stick with them.
“I was watching it and thought, ‘I’d be surprised if Crystal Palace don’t score a couple of goals and I can’t see how United are going to score.’ Where’s it going to come from? I think changes are going to have to be made.”
The day after the Palace defeat, United ended their January transfer window without any activity on Deadline Day.
Lecce full-back Patrick Dorgu was their only addition in the window after a pursuit for Bayern Munich striker Mathys Tel ended in him joining Tottenham Hotspur. Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford completed a late January loan to Aston Villa.
But United’s defensive line took another blow as Lisandro Martinez came off late on against Palace with a worrying knee injury.
“They’ve bought the left-back Dorgu and in the system that Amorim wants to play, wing-backs are absolutely critical – you have to have energy and quality in those wide areas,” said Neville.News
-
Gary Neville believes Manchester United have become worse under Ruben Amorim and warned the Portuguese: “It can’t keep going on like this.”
Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace put Amorim’s United back to square one after three straight wins over Rangers, Fulham and Steaua Bucharest.
It was the 39-year-old’s fifth league defeat in seven matches at Old Trafford since taking over – the quickest any Manchester United manager has reached that number of home top-flight losses in Premier League history.
And Neville believes the pain is only going to continue for Amorim, his players and the United fans between now and the end of the season.
“I thought it would get better when Ruben Amorim came in, the enthusiasm of him and the new system, the players would buy into and we’d see a bounce,” he told the Gary Neville Podcast.
“But we’ve seen the absolute opposite and it’s got a lot worse – and that’s surprising.
“There’s going to be a lot more pain towards the end of the season and it’s going to be damaging – because they’re obviously going to stick with Amorim. But the more you lose, the more difficult it is for the manager to convince the players of his idea.
“In the very early days he said, ‘I will not change my idea’ and you need the players to buy into that. If they keep losing and they keep getting criticised and the spotlight comes on them more and the fans are leaving unhappy, you know it creates a feeling and you can’t keep losing.
“You just can’t. It will depress the thoughts of the players to a point whereby they’ll start to lose faith in the idea and it’ll damage you.
“He can’t change his approach now because he’s died in the ditch on it and rightly so. But he’s lost more games at Manchester United than he lost in the last 75 at Sporting Lisbon which is just absolutely alarming, so he will not be enjoying this.
“It can’t keep going on as it is and they somehow have to start playing better – because at this moment in time it’s a very sorry situation when you watch United play.”
United’s latest defeat came in bizarre circumstances as Amorim chose midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has his centre-forward option, leaving recognised strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee on the bench.
Amorim’s side struggled in front of goal once again and in a further twist of irony, Palace’s recognised forward Jean-Philippe Mateta got both goals in the 2-0 victory.
Neville believes Amorim’s team selection gave Palace a lot of confidence to pick up that win and said while United’s head coach cannot change his style of play now, he must make some tweaks.
“The only thing I can think he’s doing is one of two things – experiment to the point whereby he’s just trying to find a solution that works in the system he wants to play, or he doesn’t like the strikers he’s got,” said Neville about Mainoo’s centre-forward selection.
“I thought Bruno Fernandes was going to play in that position or Alejandro Garnacho might play up front and Fernandes to the right; when I saw Mainoo as a centre-forward or dropping in to that position, I thought it’s okay, you’ll get control in the game and you can get decent football. And it can con you, it can kid you.
“It’s about putting the ball in the back of the net, it’s about getting bodies in the box, it’s about getting bodies across defenders and making sure that you’re really creating chances and that’s not going to happen that much with Mainoo up front as everything has to be perfect.
“In Mainoo, Garnacho and Amad Diallo you’ve got three quite lightweight players – really talented good players – but everything has to be absolutely perfect. And from a Crystal Palace point of view, if I’m a defender, I’m thinking I fancy that I’m going to outmuscle them.
“They are sharp and they chip in with goals, but they’re not rapid quick and there’s no real goalscorers there, so as a defender I’m thinking: ‘We’ve got a chance.’
“I’m not saying that if they saw Rasmus Hojlund up front all of a sudden they’d be starting to panic but they’d be thinking at least they’ve got a physical presence and they’ve got a battle. Joshua Zirkzee is a big lad.
“I’m not saying they’re brilliant players, but I just felt that when I saw that team I thought Crystal Palace would be fancying it.
“He’s got to simplify it a little bit. While he might not like Hojlund, he might not think Zirkzee is great and might not like other players, he’s got to pick the players that he has and stick with them.
“I was watching it and thought, ‘I’d be surprised if Crystal Palace don’t score a couple of goals and I can’t see how United are going to score.’ Where’s it going to come from? I think changes are going to have to be made.”
The day after the Palace defeat, United ended their January transfer window without any activity on Deadline Day.
Lecce full-back Patrick Dorgu was their only addition in the window after a pursuit for Bayern Munich striker Mathys Tel ended in him joining Tottenham Hotspur. Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford completed a late January loan to Aston Villa.
But United’s defensive line took another blow as Lisandro Martinez came off late on against Palace with a worrying knee injury.
“They’ve bought the left-back Dorgu and in the system that Amorim wants to play, wing-backs are absolutely critical – you have to have energy and quality in those wide areas,” said Neville.News
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