I’M SO HAPPY VAR MADE EMILE OF IT
Gunners kid the hero after red reprieve
Emile Smith Rowe felt relieved after seeing red, then yellow before finally giving Arsenal’s FA Cup defence the green light with an extratime breakthrough.
Substitute Smith Rowe seemed set to miss the added minutes after initially being sent off in stoppage time for a foul on Newcastle’s Sean Longstaff.
But the decision was reviewed and the young Gunner s midfielder made the most of his reprieve in the 109th-minute of an average match before captain Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang added the late second.
Smith Rowe said: “I was really happy. The red card incident was a bit of a relief for me. It wasn’t ideal but it wasn’t intentional. We knew coming into the game how tough it was going to be. They’re a really strong opponent, but it was just about breaking them down and we’re happy to get the win.
“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. It’s great.”
In normal time Aubameyang failed to convert two chances that you would have backed him to bury before his poor form began in the wake of him signing a lucrative new contract.
And Newcastle’s Andy Carroll missed two golden chances in which could have sent Arsenal to a rare third-round exit.
In-form Smith Rowe had an eventful evening after arriving as a second- half substitute, seeing the red card on Longstaff rightly rescinded before opening the scoring.
When fel low substitutes Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette combined to help the ball on to the 20-year- old, he produced the moment of quality that the match had been so desperately lacking.
Taking the ball on his chest, Smith Rowe took himself on the wrong side of a Newcastle defence that had worked so hard to keep Arsenal at bay.
And he found the finish that had eluded Aubameyang and Carroll in normal time.
Aubameyang then tucked home a goal of his own from Scotland star Kieran Tierney’s cross and the holders were through to the fourth round.
Newcastle boss Steve Bruce said: “There’s lots of pleasing things and we’ve had a run of tough fixtures, but we’ll dust ourselves down and go again.”
Carroll’s misery as Scot helps win it