Newcastle United have crashed out of the FA Cup in a defeat to Brighton and Roy Keane was left furious with five of the club’s players.
It was yet another poor performance at St. James’ Park for Newcastle United as they lost 2-1 to Brighton after extra-time.
Alexander Isak had given Eddie Howe’s side the lead from the penalty spot before Yankuba Minteh levelled on his return to Newcastle.
A game lacking in real quality suddenly burst to life in the 81st minute when Anthony Gordon was sent off for a shove on Jan Paul van Hecke, a red card which means he will miss the Carabao Cup final.
Tariq Lamptey was dismissed himself 10 minutes later and Newcastle thought they had the game won when Fabian Schar fired in on the volley.
However, VAR interjected to rule the goal out for offside and the match went to extra time where Danny Welbeck found the winner with a fine finish.
Manchester United great Roy Keane was particularly scathing of Newcastle’s five substitutes after the match.
Roy Keane slams Newcastle United substitutes including Bruno Guimaraes
In some good news, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes returned to the starting XI after spells on the sidelines and both were taken off unscathed before the hour.
Though he named a strong side, Howe utilised his bench to keep his players fresh and brought on five substitutes: Joe Willock, Bruno Guimaraes, Jacob Murphy, Callum Wilson and Matt Targett.
Keane moved to criticise all five of them after the match for not making a positive impact on the game, unlike Welbeck who got the winner off the bench.
Speaking on ITV, Keane said: “This is the importance of the squad.
“We mention about subs coming off the bench. Your subs have got to come on and have an impact. We saw Danny’s enthusiasm, he’s a player who’s won the trophy, he’s 34 now?
“He came on and made a difference.
“You see other subs sometimes, for Newcastle, they come on and it seems like a chore to them. But Danny’s professionalism shone through there.”
The Carabao Cup final is looking worrying for Newcastle
The day couldn’t have gone much worse for Newcastle who will miss Gordon for three matches while Isak also hobbled off with an injury just two weeks before the trip to Wembley to face Liverpool.
Lewis Hall also has an issue and sat out of the match due to an ankle injury he suffered against Liverpool in mid-week.
If all three are unavailable for the final, then Newcastle’s chances of winning reduce dramatically.
Keane continued: “The test for this group is how they recover from it.
“Since they got there when they beat Arsenal three weeks ago their form has not been great. Gordon gets sent off, maybe one or two injuries, this is a test for this group now.”
Ian Wright added: “Massive test, the first XI you can’t question when they can get them out there but now it’s a big test for them.”
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