Nick Pope helped his chances of going to the World Cup when he helped Newcastle produce one of the goalless football results of the midweek action in the Carabao Cup. The Magpies goalkeeper stopped shots from 12 yards by Luka Milivojevic, Jean-Philippe Mateta, and Malcolm Ebiowei to secure a 3-2 shootout triumph following a dull 0-0 draw on Tyneside the evening before England manager Gareth Southgate announced his team for Qatar. The club had earlier in the day declared that its ownership group, led by Saudi Arabia, had increased its total investment past £450 million with a £70.4 million equity injection in order to further its goal of “building a club that can consistently compete at the highest levels of English and European football.”
The Magpies were failing to establish any kind of rhythm as the half went on, and one of the six players recruited into the Palace starting lineup, James Tomkins, headed over from Milivojevic’s corner in the 10th minute. Pope then had to stop a drove cross from Mateta. Mateta’s angled shot, which came after Will Hughes had set him up, required an excellent stop from the Newcastle goalkeeper in the 22nd minute. With Chris Wood badly isolated and the returning Allan Saint-Maximin without significant possession, Howe’s team was unable to gain any traction. It had been 30 minutes until Elliot Anderson skillfully spun before forcing Sam Johnstone to make his first save.
As Howe prepared a triple substitution, Dan Burn glanced Matt Targett’s inswinging corner past the far post in the 63rd minute. Three minutes later, the cavalry arrived as Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman, and Bruno Guimaraes took the place of Javier Manquillo, Burn, and Sean Longstaff. They were soon joined by the in-form Miguel Almiron. The Paraguayan forward had an opportunity to force a shootout with nine minutes left after being set up by Trippier, but Johnstone stopped him from scoring his seventh goal in as many games. Although Pope’s valiant efforts carried the Magpies to victory, Wood, Trippier, and Joelinton were successful where Botman and Guimaraes were unsuccessful.
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