Despite one of the worst refereeing performances you are ever likely to witness, Newcastle United found a way to overcome Aston Villa’s 10 men, Chris Kavanagh and his incompetent linesman, to move into the last 16 of the FA Cup!
A 3-1 win was fully deserved, featuring one Villa goal that should never have stood, one red card, a yellow that should’ve been red, a penalty that was given as a free kick (!), a Sandro Tonali brace and a much-needed goal for Nick Woltemade to end an up-and-down night on an almighty high!
This is now two away games in a week where we’ve overcome adversity, dug deep, been the better side for much of the 90 and found a way to win. Considering how low St James’ Park felt after that Brentford defeat one week ago, Bruno Guimaraes’ absence and today’s refereeing howlers, that’s big and a huge platform to build on.
Eddie Howe made SIX changes from our midweek win, as Ramsdale, Hall, Tonali, Murphy, Woltemade and Osula replaced Pope, Botman, Bruno, Willock, Elanga and Gordon, seeing us switch to a 4-4-1-1 formation.
Botman was ‘rested’, Wissa missed out with a ‘knock’ and Bruno was absent alongside Miley, Joelinton, Livramento, Schar and Krafth, with our skipper set to miss eight to 10 weeks following a hamstring tear.
Newcastle XI: Ramsdale – Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall – Tonali, Ramsey – Murphy, Woltemade, Barnes – Osula
Substitutes: Pope, Ruddy, A Murphy, Shahar, Willock, Gordon, Elanga, Seung-soo Park, Neave
Aston Villa XI: Bizot – Bogarde, Lindelof, Torres, Digne – Onana, Luiz – Bailey, Barkley, Rogers – Abraham.
We started confidently, dominating possession, moving the ball quickly and getting Woltemade into the game, as the big German got plenty of touches in that No.10 role, but not enough in attacking areas to really trouble the home side.
Our promising start was quickly spoilt as a quick Villa free kick was turned home by Abraham. A poor goal to concede, yes, but replays showed the former Chelsea striker was a yard offside. VAR to the rescue? Not tonight, as it is not used in the competition until the fifth round! Another sickener, just days after Joe Willock’s strike at Spurs was chalked off by an eyebrow.
Hall had started well and Barnes was a threat, with our top scorer hitting the side netting on 34 minutes after being found by Osula, who had been pretty wasteful prior to that. Again, our possession play had been good, but our lack of shots or quality in key moments was noticeable.
Then came more awful refereeing. After waving away two Newcastle penalty shouts from Hall and Barnes, Chris Kavanagh and his officials then missed a high and dangerous tackle from Lucas Digne on Jacob Murphy. Our winger was left with a big gash on his leg and Digne’s challenge was nowhere near the ball, but he only saw yellow.
A red card was awarded before the break, however, as Marco Bizot wiped out Murphy just as we had bodies breaking towards an unguarded goal. So, 10 vs 11 heading into the second half, but we had to make it count and start to threaten in the final third, with moments of quality needed to break down a Villa side about to sit deep.
In the Premier League, that’d be chalked off for offside but there’s no VAR in this round of the FA Cup…
Tammy Abraham with a tidy finish 👏 pic.twitter.com/nWnELL7bPJ
— george (@StokeyyG2) February 14, 2026
No changes at the break and we made a sloppy start, featuring a careless offside from Murphy, who had offered very little, and two sloppy passes from Trippier. Our struggle to break down a low block was going to be severely tested here, made even tougher without Bruno’s creativity.
Then came more atrocious refereeing and genuinely one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in a match full of mistakes. Digne, who should’ve been off, handled Murphy’s cross in the box. Kavanagh blew…for a free kick! Speechless. A blatant handball, two yards into the box, and he and his linesman were the only two inside Villa Park who thought it was outside the area!
Thankfully, justice was served immediately, as the resultant free kick was half-cleared before Tonali fired a deflected effort in off Luiz. It was scrappy, but it was more than deserved after shocking calls at both ends had already cost us.
1-1, comeback well and truly on, and it was soon complete. Gordon and Elanga came on, another ball fell loose to Tonali and the Italian produced an absolute thunderbolt into the bottom corner, celebrating with passion in front of the travelling away end before embracing Eddie Howe.
And it soon got even better. Villa played their way into trouble, Willock capitalised, found Woltemade in the box and the big man did the rest. 3-1, an end to his goal drought and deserved goal on his 24th birthday. JUSTICE.
Next up for Newcastle, a Champions League trip to Qarabag on Wednesday, followed by Man City away in the Premier League next Saturday. Tough trips in different ways,
Keep the faith. Howay the lads!
The referee and linesmen want F*****G with a rusty brush!
They must be getting backhanders from Villa.
This result will do us and Tonali the power of good.
Joseph(Quote)
Agree 100% mate
Icedog(Quote)
Fully deserved??? Are you kidding me. The good news is that at least Great Britain doesn’t need to hold trials for the mens diving team for the 2028 Games……….
Michael Eccles(Quote)
Should never have been a goal for them and should of been two reds instead of one, officials were terrible.
Excellent result and we march on
Absolutely glorious(Quote)
Very impressive dominant performance, albeit with a continued lack of clear goal threat (despite 3 goals).
Great to see Tonali back in the goals. Really enjoying watching Ramsey continue to grow into the team – motm for me on overall performance.
Howe the toon(Quote)
Going into this game TBH I wasn’t that fussed, preferring us concentrate on league and CL given our injuries . But such was the officiating I soon changed my mind and so glad we beat them and that t wat of a ref and lino.
kimtoon(Quote)
Great result battling against ineffective officials and demonstrating integrity and competitiveness worthy of such a fantastic competition that is so full of history in the face of indifference from many socials commenters claiming to be supporters.
Kudos to players and coaches
Lovethecup(Quote)
Absolutely unbelievable officiating, never seen anything like it. And that’s up against some pretty stiff competition over the years, let’s face it
East Stand(Quote)
Yep, it was pretty shocking.
kimtoon(Quote)
Coming after my post, I’m guessing that’s a pop at me ?
Our supporters want us to be competitive on all fronts and I agree but when you are beset with injuries you have to prioritize and for me league comes first. I love the FA cup, probably more than the Carabao cup but I would of been ok with playing some of our youngsters yesterday. If that makes me indifferent so be it. By the way I am not on X ,twatter or what ever it is called now, too old to be a social media warrior.
kimtoon(Quote)
Other than beating them yesterday the thing I enjoyed most was the fact that finally we had a shot from distance go in, been waiting so long for one of them .
kimtoon(Quote)
The officials were so bad it had to be deliberate, I.e. corruption, or gross negligence. It’s not a case of VAR or no VAR. it’s about the people. We had var for the Spurs game and you see how that worked with the Willock goal fiasco. Those officials, ref and the linesman in particular, must not be allowed to continue after that debacle.
That said, I’m so pleased we got the win despite their negligence. Mind you, we were not great. Tripps had a mare, several others were poor but luckily, Tonali had his best game in a long time.
Onwards to the next round where we will have VAR, and most likely get Liverpool or another of the Septics, and var will do us over again. 🤷🏻♂️
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Absolutely Kim! I hope we get more!
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Gilly it was same ref in our game with Pool who blew whistle before ex time was up .
kimtoon(Quote)
Officials were useless. Investigation needed into that affair. The fact we won papers over it. I was amazed he didn’t chalk the goals off for some minor reason, and show a yellow to their keeper. The two penalties were clear and the foul on Murphy was a straight red.
The little birdy(Quote)
Our away form has been really poor this season but that back to back away wins now – and Villa Park with the injuries we have seemed almost a nailed on defeat.
But something has definitely changed since that Brentford defeat. Trippier has alluded to it afew times now – the players have cleared the air and they definitely seem more focused and more determined.
It still wasn’t our best performance by a long stretch, but our boys done exactly what was needed – and kept their heads around some of the worst officiating I have ever seen in my life!!.
I know we won the game so it didn’t cost us, but I hope the club put in an official complaint because they should never be near top flight football again.
For me the Digne challenge on Murphy was a straight red card – that one though I’d accept could be debated.
But to not flag one of their 3 players offside for their goal is pathetic – if you wanted to defend, you could say they have got used to the technology so aren’t as sharp – but that would be a weak excuse for ‘professionals’.
But the penalty miss 🤯. There is absolutely no excuse can be made for that – especially as Rooney pointed out, Digne never left the box. How on earth could he give a freekick 5 yards outside?!?!!.
I can’t believe I haven’t woke up to more in the media about it – if it was Arsenal or City there definitely would be!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
will this ref get any more after that game i bloody hope not, ime with Gilly on this comment
ps i see Gorden will not sign a new contract,get rid of him i say bloody part time player imo
icedog(Quote)
Press saying he’s wanted by Pool to replace Sahah who plays on the right !!Someone needs to tell them that he apparently doesn’t feel he’s best suited to the right, according to Eddie.
kimtoon(Quote)
Total Potential: A top referee officiating 38 games can earn close to £190,000–£200,000 per season.
Lifted this from the internet. I know some players get this a week – but this is still a big salary. No way these cowboys should be making mistakes like that.
As for Gordon, I’m more than happy for him to go to Liverpool – £60m plus and he can go.
If WH get relegated I’d go get Summerville as his replacement.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Have been calling out the refs for a couple of years now & others keep telling me there’s no targeting/conspiracy etc b/w ‘big 6’ vs the rest (esp us 0 their biggest challengers). I repeat these officials aren’t incompetent (mostly), they’re asked to be shall we say ‘more careful’ with ManU/Liv/Chel/Ars. Note the pen given to Liv yesterday even though Salah was already going down.
Even if (IF) you say the Abraham offside mistake can be made by an official (top flight officials rarely make an offside mistake when nearly the entire body of the attacker is offside like Tammy was) and that the Digne Red Card (exactly like Havertz on Longstaff 3 years back ‘cept harder contact) not given ‘coz they’ve been asked to reduce them this season so matches don’t become lopsided, the Digne handball shows you clearly the crooked intent as he NEVER left the penalty area. Usually the doubt occurs (apart from whether it hit the arm) only if the player was moving b/w inside & outside the pen area bef/after the ball hit his arm. In this case Digne was inside the area bef/during AND after the contact. NO ref trained at ANY level can miss that, esp as its his near side, the pen box lines are nearby & there’s no other player obstructing his view, let alone a top flight ref asst missing it. You look at the calls made by these 3 refs in other games and you’ll find them consistently getting these right unless its a close call.
P(Quote)
The first game that confirmed for me refs could be compromised (for any reason) was in 2018-19 vs Wolves when Mike Dean after giving Yedlin a Red Card w/o seeing Lascelles was covering, didn’t give a pen + RC for Boly smashing Ayoze Perez in the face & told him his face was bleeding due to contact with the ball (which had looped 2 yards over both their heads & can only cause bleeding if its a straight on full blooded hit) which Perez related in the post match interview.
In recent times:
1) The VAR selectively showing the ref one angle in the push on Willock vs Palace being called a foul by him & the goal disallowed in Sept 2022.
2) The Havertz elbow ‘attempt to murder’ on Burn vs Chel in 2022 not given a RC (& him going on to score the only goal of the match in the 89th min after Chalobah pulled Murphy down twice for a cast iron pen).
3) Gabriel this season punching+slapping Woltemade – not only not getting carded but Sky showing the replay a full 10min later as if they+VAR just forgot about it all even though the ref was separating the players involved
4) In the same game the Gabriel handball in 79th min not given as a pen (at 1-0) with VAR giving reason as Gabriel touching the ball BEFORE Elanga smashed it on his raised arm (that’s actually proof that it IS a pen as opposed to if the shot was deflected off Gabriel’s leg onto his arm)
5) The Chel game this Dec with Ref Assoc giving reason for not giving pen for the foul on Gordon as defender “shielding” the ball when he lunged from 5 yards away from the ball – just defending their guy with a guilty statement instead of keeping quiet/acknowledging mistake.
6) Anderson’s goal vs Forest disallowed in Mar’22 with us in 3rd (& ManU+Liv in 4th/5th chasing top 4 spots, both being given favourable decisions the same weekend) and the match at 0-1 where TWO defenders tried to clear the ball yet an offside was given by VAR.
And many others like this with the fact that ref association have only TWICE admitted they made a mistake (incl the Palace one above) against us in the 4 years they’ve been doing this and NEVER apologised to the club till date, shows quite clearly everything has to be done keeping in mind that those 4-5 ‘big’ teams must end up fighting for the top 4/5 in the table .
P(Quote)
P – I completely get your point and agree with it.
But there is no ‘if’ for the Abraham offside as when you watch it back there is 3 of them gone early.
I get there can be tight calls like Willocks last week where they were clearly looking to not give the goal – but to miss 3 players is inexcusable imo.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I watched the highlights again today and that Digne handball decision has to be the worst refereeing decision I’ve .
I’m really struggling to think of a worse one and there been quite a few in the years I’ve supported us.
200k a season 😬 maybe when they mess up with more than one mistake they should be fined or they should be hooked and subbed for the 4th official (joke).
Agree with the sentiments about Gordon but I hope we don’t do business with the Scousers and flog him to Man city instead.
Absolutely glorious(Quote)
A cheeky bid for Bowen as well
Absolutely glorious(Quote)
Glorious – I wanted Bowen before he joined WH. I think he’s a brilliant player and would have been a great signing back then.
I don’t think he’s over the hill now but I think he’s around 30 and is Mr WH now isn’t he – Danny Dyer would disown him if he abandoned them now. I think he’s class though.
Sharpy17(Quote)
The FA and referees have an agenda to stop us, however they can. Usually they try to do it a bit more surreptitiously but yesterday was so blatant nobody could argue against it. They need investigating and fired. Those officials, ref and linesmen must never officiate a game again.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Yeah he still good but on the older side and like you say he’s not leaving London now because of who he married he would have been a good signing earlier in his career.
Absolutely glorious(Quote)
If it was Forest to go down I’d raid the hell out of their squad. They’ve got far better players than that – Dyche has destroyed them.
Sharpy17(Quote)
City at home in the next round. FFS! We are going to get prem teams all the way! Almost as if they knew which balls were which!
Liverpool, Arsenal Chelsea, even the Mackems, all getting favourable ties. 😡
So we have to do it the very hard way! I hope we learned from the Carabao cup semi!
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Had them in the cups every year from 2021 apart from 2022, sick of playing them now.
kimtoon(Quote)
anybody heard anything about Big AL story ive heard is he going to join the club,what job i dont know but its a big one
icedog(Quote)
No mate, where did you hear that ?
kimtoon(Quote)
KIM it was in one of thoseArab papers they were saying it was from our Arab chairman cannot spell his bloody name lol,i asked if Howe knew about it but got no reply thats why i was a little suss and thought i would ask on hear
the only pal i have there is on the medical side
icedog(Quote)
Right oh, thanks Ice.
kimtoon(Quote)