Joe Buck reacts to Newcastle United's 3-2 win over Birmingham City in the FA Cup. A brace from Joe Willock and a strike by Callum Wilson earned Eddie Howe's side a hard-fought victory.
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00:00So Newcastle United are through to the fifth round of the FA Cup after a 3-2 win here against
00:06Birmingham City in a real proper cup tie, you know, won the ball team to give it the
00:10roll and Birmingham, you know, close to closing upset but Newcastle's quality eventually showed
00:14through and that's just, you know, a quick summary of what was a pulsating, certainly
00:19first 45 minutes, it sort of slowed down after the break as Newcastle took control. Because
00:23of one man, Sandro Tonoli, but we'll get on to him. But yes, the game started, you know,
00:27Eddie Howe made nine changes as expected from the win against Arsenal, only Bruno Guimaraes,
00:32obviously captain of the team, and Dan Byrne kept their place from that win. But, you know,
00:39the highs of Wednesday was, you know, almost forgotten about within 43 seconds, I think
00:43it was, when Birmingham took the lead. It was a corner that went to the back post, flipped
00:47on and swept home by Ethan Laird. No Newcastle player within, you know, three or four metres
00:53of Laird in the box. It was a real soppy bit defending and something that can happen in
00:56the first minute of the game, but something that Newcastle would have wanted to avoid.
00:58And of course, you know, with that early goal Bromley got as well in the third round, Newcastle
01:03have got to really stop doing that. And given teams and crowds like this a reason to sort
01:07of get up, you know, because they wanted, they would have wanted to come here and really
01:12silence the crowd. And they didn't do that because within 43 seconds the whole crowd
01:15was up. But eventually got some control of the game, started playing some nice passes
01:19and just, you know, showed that the golfing class between the two teams. And then came
01:24the controversial moment of the day now. Joe Willock, who obviously has had a really
01:29tough week last week. You know, he started it and left Wayne a bit more of an advanced
01:34role. He was good all day to be fair, but you know, it was a really awkward few seconds
01:39because Callum Wilson first of all with a lovely ball across the box. Willis Oulad does
01:44really well to recycle it and just puts it in. Joe Willock sticks a foot out, directed
01:48goalwards and Bailey Peacock-Farrell, who's sort of forced into his goal, almost sort
01:53of palms it out. Willock misses the rebound. It looks like Newcastle missed a really good
01:58chance, but the assistant on the side, just over my shoulder there, he starts flagging
02:05for a goal. And the goal is awarded now that he judged that it was over the line. Replay
02:09suggested probably it wasn't, or certainly if it was, then it's a very good spot because
02:13there was no definitive angle and no goal line technology or VAR in operation. So you
02:17have to take the assistant's word for it and looking at it, I don't think it was a goal.
02:22I think that Newcastle got very lucky there, but ultimately, you know, the assistant and
02:26the referees are there to make these decisions and, you know, the Birmingham fans, players
02:30have got to get on with it and that's, you know, and that's what happened. Newcastle
02:34giving the goal and got a foothold back in the game. Minutes later, it was 2-1, Callum
02:37Wilson making his first start of the season, got on the score sheet as he always does.
02:42Well, I say as he always does, obviously he's went five games this year without scoring,
02:45but got on the score sheet. It was a bit of chaos, a bit of scrappiness. It was a very
02:50scrappy goal. Asula has a shot, Willock has a shot, the ball sort of pops up in the air
02:56and there's Wilson just to tow it home. It was probably a portious finish from Wilson,
02:59exactly what he wanted the strike to be. And within minutes, Newcastle have gone 2-1 up
03:02with two real scrappy goals. The Birmingham, you know, the fans here sort of, the noise
03:07from their first goal, they dip and, you know, I think the sense of the fact that, you know,
03:12not only were their side losing, but of course they were losing the two real scrappy goals,
03:16ones they would like to avoid. But the roof was very quickly raised off this place when
03:22they got the equaliser. It was a brilliant strike. Newcastle couldn't do anything.
03:25The ball fell at the edge of the box and smashed it home. It was an absolutely fantastic strike.
03:29Nick Pope had no chance. In on 2-2 at the half-time, it was a proper cup tie at that
03:33point. Both teams were going for it, as I said, and yeah, it was a brilliant way to
03:39sort of enter the break and Newcastle, then at half-time, made a switch. Guy Marash came
03:43off for Sandro Tonali and Tonali was really the difference maker between the teams. He
03:47sort of settled Newcastle down completely. He allowed Newcastle just to broker play.
03:52He was always there in a crisis and he just controlled the game and that was exactly what
03:55they needed. They needed someone to do that. A long injury in the middle of the, well,
04:00actually just as half-time sort of kicked off, sort of, you know, broke the game up and then
04:05obviously we got in at 12 minutes of our time at the end. But before that, Joe Willock
04:09got here second of the day with another sort of scrappy goal, Sean Longstaff's cross was
04:12blocked and Willock was there just to fire home. It was a great finish from Willock and
04:16yeah, Newcastle held on. Jacob Murphy could have made a 4-2 just before 12 minutes was
04:20signalled by the fourth official, but his shot was cleared off the line. But Newcastle
04:24really held on well. They didn't really give Birmingham too many chances and it didn't look
04:28like the horse would get back in. There was a lot of tough challenges from them. You could
04:31tell they're a League One team. There was a lot of physicality from them. I think Newcastle
04:37did well to avoid any serious injuries. Dan Byrne did go off with a groin injury. Hopefully
04:40that's not too bad, especially with the Cup final obviously coming up next month. But
04:44yeah, Newcastle done well to avoid any injuries. Alexander Isaac came off in the final few
04:48seconds. Anthony Gordon, of course, wasn't even in the matchday squad after a minor thigh
04:51injury. So yeah, it was a very good day out for Newcastle. They're through. That's all
04:55that matters in the Cup, win the games. Will there be a performance that, you know, lifts
05:00the fan base, that they can do special things? No, but they're through to the next round.
05:04That next round comes at the beginning of March. So three more, or three really important
05:07Premier League games to come before then with their Nottingham Forest, Man City and Liverpool
05:11all to play. But yeah, that game is, that game, whoever they play in the fifth round
05:17is going to be a big one. And then that puts them, you know, again, 180, they're currently
05:20180 minutes away from Wembley in the semi-finals of that. So yeah, a win for Newcastle. That's
05:25all that mattered on FA Cup day. They've come to a tricky place. Yeah, got three points
05:31relatively comfortably, although they did have a really, really early scare. And yeah,
05:34through the fifth round of the FA Cup, and hopefully they'll get that all-important
05:38home draw. And again, they'll fancy a chance against anyone, whoever they draw out of the
05:42hat in the next round, but certainly at home, if they get it back to St James' Park, whoever
05:45they get will be one to watch. And that draw comes on Monday, of course, and the best way
05:49to stay up to date with that is with the shoes they send.