Another Cash crisis for Benitez
Forest make Rafa’s men suffer again after late drama
Nothing in this world is certain except death, taxes, and newcastle going out of the cup early. only twice in the 11 years of Mike Ashley’s ownership have newcastle been beyond the fourth round of either domestic tournament and the City ground was the scene of the latest chapter in a story that is becoming stale and scandalous in equal measure.
A frenetic finish masked the torpor of what had come before. it must be boring being a newcastle supporter when the League Cup or FA Cup rolls around. Changes are made and, invariably, defeat follows.
As happened last year when these teams met at this stage, nottingham Forest won and the concern for those 2,500 newcastle fans who travelled to the banks of the trent is that Aitor Karanka’s side have been struggling for fluency themselves. two key Forest players were forced off with injuries, too.
Most damningly in the wake of Sunday’s 2-1 home loss to Chelsea, Rafa Benitez’s team did not even manage a shot on target until the second minute of stoppage time when the cavalry had arrived. Ayoze Perez slipped in fellow substitute Salomon Rondon, who buried his finish in off the post.
But it was only momentary respite. two minutes later Forest broke through gil Dias and his cross was pushed out by Karl Darlow to the feet of Matty Cash, who raced on to the ball and smashed it home.
Perez then wanted a penalty after a collision with Luke Steele. But in the final seconds Dias benefitted from Kenedy’s sluggish play to lift a delicate finish over Darlow and confirm victory.
At the final whistle Perez lost his cool and had to be restrained from reaching referee Jeremy Simpson by his team-mates and Benitez. When the dust settled, however, newcastle were out after a display that causes concern in their fight against relegation.
those in the away end still sang their manager’s name and chanted for Ashley’s departure but with Manchester City up next, a dramatic improvement is required.
Benitez defended his decision tto make seven changes. ‘the penalty was so obvious and we have the feeling we deserve more,’ he said. ‘to win a cup competition with our squad will not be easy. At the same time the team were trying to win. nobody can complain about that. With players injured we couldn’t take risks.’ those in the treatment room include Jamaal Lascelles and Matt Ritchie, who were involved in a furious bust-up during training last week. if only the team had shown such fight against Forest.
newcastle went behind inside two minutes. Sam Byram nutmegged Kenedy and whipped a fantastic cross into the six-yard box where Daryl Murphy got in front of Fabian Schar and buried his header past Darlow, giving Karanka’s side the lead after just 93 seconds.
Murphy declined to celebrate, having been a part of newcastle’s 2016-17 Championship promotion campaign. But given this was the 35-year-old’s 100th career goal he would have been forgiven a fist pump or two.
Benitez awarded a debut to 20-year-old Sean Longstaff and a sixth appearance to Jamie Sterry, aged 22. Yoshinori Muto made his first start for newcastle alongside Joselu up front and the pair went close to equalising. Joselu glanced on Christian Atsu’s corner but the ball drifted just wide and beyond the stretch of Muto.
in the second half Murphy rounded Darlow and aimed to slot in, only to be denied by Federico Fernandez’s magnificent diving block. From Joao Carvalho’s corner Michael hefele guided his header wide.
Soon after Carvalho’s delicate chip almost embarrassed Darlow only for him to claw it away acrobatically. Forest deserved the win.
‘i’m pleased for the whole performance,’ said Karanka. ‘We saw how good we are, especially when we play without pressure. We are here to try to build something. We were much better than a Premier League team.’