Newcastle United crashed out of the FA Cup in embarrassing fashion on Saturday night, with the returning Alexander Isak unable to inspire his side to victory.
The 23-year-old was named in Eddie Howe’s starting lineup for the first time since September, having finally recovered from a thigh injury.
It was fantastic to see him straight back in the side after being out for so long. However, it is a night that will be remembered for all of the wrong reasons.
For the third season in a row, the Magpies are out of the FA Cup at the third round stage. And for the second year in a row, the Magpies have lost in the third round to League One opposition.
Newcastle lost 2-1 to Sheffield Wednesday, and were left bemoaning the wealth of chances that they missed. Howe’s side had enough opportunities to advance, but failed to take them.
It was a really disappointing night for Newcastle, during a season that has been full of so many highs. But even in defeat, there was a massive positive for the Magpies to take.
Alexander Isak provided a glimpse into the future for Newcastle
He only played the opening 45 minutes, but Isak was incredibly lively on his Toon return. He created some really good chances to score, only to be denied by Owls goalkeeper Cameron Dawson.
But Newcastle’s record signing will have been very happy with his overall performance, and he certainly pleased his manager.
“I thought he played very well,” Howe told NUFC TV after the game.
“Really pleased with him. He had a few chances to score. I thought he looked lively, his movement was good. It was a good 45 minutes. That was always the plan with Alex, to play 45. We didn’t want to risk him for more than that today.”
Isak was replaced at half time by Chris Wood, and he missed an absolute sitter to draw the Toon level.
While the post-game talk centred around Wood’s miss, more should be made about Isak’s first half outing. Given it was his first appearance in nearly four months and just his fourth for Newcastle, it provided a very exciting glimpse into the future.
Newcastle need an extra option in attack, and look a lot less dangerous when Callum Wilson doesn’t play. And that is a problem that Isak can fix.
The Sweden international didn’t score, but he had plenty of chances at Hillsborough. He saw a powerful strike saved by Dawson, but the movement to get into a goalscoring position was very similar to what we saw him do on his debut against Liverpool.
At £63million, Newcastle know they have signed a special player. We just haven’t seen enough of him yet.
But now Isak is back, and ready to have an impact in the second half of the season. Newcastle’s forward line has just got a bit more dangerous, and that will be massively encouraging for Howe.
The cup exit was a catastrophe, but it will be forgotten about if Newcastle continue to thrive in the coming months. And they should be able to with Isak back in the conversation.
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