Alan Shearer gives his instant reaction as Newcastle crash out of the FA Cup

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Alan Shearer has admitted that Newcastle United were not good enough in the final third as Sheffield Wednesday knocked the Magpies out of the FA Cup.

Eddie Howe’s side lost 2-1 to the Owls, falling at the third round stage of the competition to League One opposition for the second year in a row.

It was a very different story to last year, however. Newcastle were still a team well shy of confidence in January 2022 as they lost 1-0 to Cambridge United.

But this Toon team is competing for a place in the Champions League, and should have had enough to beat Darren Moore’s side.

Howe made a lot of changes to his starting XI, with Sven Botman, Sean Longstaff and Joelinton the only survivors from the team that started against Arsenal on Tuesday night.

He gave a lot of fringe players a chance, while Alexander Isak made his first appearance since recovering from a thigh injury that had kept him out since September.

Newcastle fell behind in the second half, forcing Howe to bring on the big guns in Bruno Guimaraes, Miguel Almiron, Joe Willock and Kieran Trippier. However, they were unable to inspire a comeback.

In what has been a brilliant season so far, the Magpies have been dumped out of the FA Cup in embarrassing fashion. And Shearer was not impressed.

Shearer reacts as Sheff Wed knock Newcastle out of the FA Cup

Shearer was on punditry duty for BBC Match Of The Day, who broadcast the gave live in the UK.

Immediately after the full time whistle, he said: “I will say they [Sheffield Wednesday] deserved to go through. I thought they were superb.”

He went on to add: “Newcastle weren’t good enough in the final third. Missed far too many chances.”

The camera then panned to Chris Wood, which prompted host Gary Lineker to say: “That man there missed a real chance to equalise.”

Shearer replied: “Sitter, it was.”

The Toon legend then took to his official Twitter account.

He wrote: “Newcastle were dreadful in the final third, Sheff Wed were not. Well done Sheffield Wednesday.”

Really disappointing night for Newcastle

Shearer’s assessment of Newcastle is spot on. We were dreadful in the final third, wasting chance after chance after chance.

Howe’s side had plenty of opportunities to find the net, and could easily have salvaged the 2-0 deficit they found themselves in. They were only able to score one goal, with Bruno stabbing home from close range despite appearing to be offside. However, it was probably fair as the Owls’ opener possibly could have been ruled out for offside as well.

But Wood missed the best opportunity for Newcastle. Joelinton and Trippier combined brilliantly, giving the New Zealander the chance to make it 2-2. However, he blazed his effort so high over the bar that it might not even have landed yet.

The Magpies were massively wasteful in the final third, and will need to be much better in the Carabao Cup quarter final on Tuesday night. That is the more important game, but it is still massively frustrating to exit the FA Cup at the earliest stage possible for the third season in a row.

A disappointing night for Newcastle – something of a rarity this season.