Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Magpies win hailed by Benitez
NEWCASTLE boss Rafael Benitez hailed the character of his players after the Magpies’ 4-2 extra-time victory over Blackburn in their FA Cup third-round replay at Ewood Park.
The visitors – whose starting line-up showed eight changes from the 2-1 Premier League loss at Chelsea on Saturday – went 2-0 up early on via efforts from Sean Longstaff and Callum Roberts, two 21-year-olds each scoring their first goal for the club.
Championship outfit Blackburn fought back with goals from former Newcastle striker Adam Armstrong and Darragh Lenihan before half-time.
Benitez’s men subsequently secured a spot in the fourth round, in which they will host Watford, following extratime strikes from Joselu and substitute Ayoze Perez.
The manager, who had two defenders come off injured in Ciaran Clark and Jamaal Lascelles, said: “I think it’s important to win, to score four goals and to go through. So I’m really pleased with that.
“At the same time, you have some problems and maybe you will lose some players. Hopefully not, we will see in a couple of days how they are.
“But OK, we won, and everybody has to be happy now. After conceding and reacting like we did, as a manager I have to be really pleased with them.
“You wanted to win, you needed to win and to do it with the character they showed, with the reaction, and four goals – that has to be good for the confidence of the team.”