“I thought Andy [Carroll] played very well and if he’d topped it off with a goal it would have been very good for him, after hias goal last week,” he tells the BBC. “There was a lot of pleasing things and we’ve had a run of tough fixtures, but we’ll dust ourselves down and go again.
On taking positives from the game: “I’ve found positives in all of the games over the past 10 days,” he says. “It’s not easy when you’ve played Man City, Liverpool, Leicester and now Arsenal away.
“It’s been a particularly difficult period, but I’ve seen positives. We’re trying to play higher up the pitch which I think is pleasing. We’re creating a few more chances.”
“I was really happy,” he says of his goal in an interview with the BBC. “It was a bit of a relief for me. The [red card] incident before that wasn’t ideal but it wasn’t intentional.
“We knew coming into the game how tough it was going to be, that they’re a really strong opponent, but it was just about breaking them down and we’re happy to get the win.
“It’s great, you know. From a young kid, I’ve always wanted to play for this club. All us young kids are just looking for opportunities and I’m really happy to be playing with this club.”
I know he’s just a young lad who’s probably been media trained to within an inch of his life, but if ever an interview was in keeping with the quality of the match that preceded it, that was it.
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeep! It’s all over and Arsenal are through to the fourth round of the FA Cup. THey made heavy weather of it but got there in the end, leaving it until extra time before breaking the deadlock with goals for Emile Smith-Rowe and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.
unlike in their League Cup quarter-final defeat at the hands of Brentford Newcastle’s players put in a decent shift and had chances to win the game in 90 minutes, but ultimately go home with nothing.
ET29: Dwight Gayle, whose arrival on the pitch from the Newcastle substitutes’ bench bypassed me completely, appeals for a penalty, claiming he was fouled by Cedric. None is forthcoming.
ET27: Having wasted a glorious chance to win the game in the final minute of added time in normal time, Newcastle now look likely to lose it. It’ll be a long journey home for them ... but then, it was always going to be a long journey home for them. Newcastle is a good distance from London.
ET24: Elliot Anderson finds himself on the ball down near the corner flag in Arsenal territory but is immediately surrounded by three Arsenal players. With nobody to pass it to, he’s crowded off the ball.
ET21: Far be it from me to point my big finger of blame in the direction of any Newcastle player, but Ciaran Clark was at fault for that goal. He lost his man and got his legs in a tangle as the ball came towards Smith-Rowe, giving the Arsenal substitute time to chest it down and drill it through his legs and past Dubravka.
GAH! Sent off earlier, only to have his red card overturned, Emile Smith-Rowe fires a low diagonal shot in off the foot of the upright from a tight angle. That’s an excellent finish.
Emile Smith Rowe makes the breakthrough. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Peep! It remains scoreless. Is either side going to ruin our fun by scoring and denying us a penalty shoot-out? They should have had one at the end of normal time - I’m fairly sure neither manager nor their players would have objected.
ET9: Matt Ritchie trips Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang in his own penalty area as the Arsenal man tries to dribble past him. It’s looks to be a penalty, but referee Chris Kavanagh misses it and so too does his video assistant referee Andre Marriner.
ET5: Saka sends the ball towards the far post, where David Luiz heads it back across the face of goal, Hayden heads it clear but only as far as Eleneny, who shoots wide.
ET4: Granit Xhaka absolutely leathers a dropping ball on the volley from outside the Newcastle penalty area, forcing Dubravka to tip the ball over for a corner.
Granit Xhaka hits a volley. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
We’ll have extra time. Splendid, we get another 30 minutes of this fairly turgid dross after Andy Carroll squandered two good chances to win it for Newcastle.
90+4 min: Chris Kavanagh brandishes a red card in the direction of Emile Smith-Rowe for a foul on Sean Longstaff, that prompts a blood-curdling scream from the Geordie. On the advice of his VAR, Andre Marriner, he takes a look at the pitchside monitor before downgrading the red to a yellow.
90+3 min: Andy Carroll misses a glorious opportunity to win it at the death for Newcastle, failing to convert on ther follow-up after forcing a splendid save out of Bernd Leno from close range.
Andy Carroll should have scored. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
89 min: While the option isn’t open to him (and more’s the pity), I suspect if referee Chris Kavanagh was to offer the option of going straight to a penalty shoot-out without having to play extra time to both managers right now, they’d both snap his hand off.
84 min: Ritchie sends a diabolical delivery towards the near post, where Jeff Hendrick contorts himself in an effort to back-heel the ball goalwards. Wide.
80 min: Newcastle double-substitution: Joelinton and Miguel Almiron off, DeAndre Yedlin and Elliot Anderson on. An 18-year-old from Whitley Bay, Anderson is making his senior debut for Newcastle. Congratulations to him.
