JAK’S SLIP-UP HELPS SPURS INTO SEMIS
SOMETIMES it can be a lonely existence as a goalkeeper and Jak Alnwick found his North London baptism no less brutal at one end of the Seven Sisters Road than it was at the other. Having conceded four at Arsenal on Saturday, it got worse for Newcastle’s rookie keeper against Tottenham. He made a dreadful error, dropping the ball for Nabil Bentaleb to open the scoring after 18 minutes in last night’s showdown. Just 34 seconds into the second half, Nacer Chadli had lashed another goal past the 21-year-old, this time a sweet strike, arrowed into the bottom corner. Harry Kane added the third before he was replaced by Roberto Soldado, who then scored the fourth after Alnwick was unable to hold a drive by Christian Eriksen. Spurs will now play League One side Sheffield United in the last four as another competition slips by in Newcastle’s long and fruitless quest for a trophy, but Alan Pardew returns to Tyneside with more pressing problems. Two goalkeepers are injured and another is out on loan for the season. No one wants to see Alnwick suffer like this but he faces a genuine test of character if the Barclays Premier League continue to block Newcastle’s attempts to bring in emergency cover. Next up is the derby against Sunderland, then a trip to Manchester United on Boxing Day. It seems a long way from his memorable debut as a sub in a win against Chelsea. It’s exactly 12 months since Tim Sherwood’s first game in charge after the exit of Andre Villas-Boas — a Capital One Cup quarter-final. Only three who started that defeat at home to West Ham were in the line-up last night, perhaps a symptom of the rapid and haphazard transition process. But Mauricio Pochettino seems to be settling on the spine of the team, who sought to test young Alnwick early on, firing shots across the slick surface from long range. The stopper’s back-four tried to protect him, but the mistake which resulted in the opening goal was all of his own making and one from which Newcastle could not recover.