Aaron Ramsdale was Newcastle’s hero as they edged past Bournemouth into the FA Cup fourth round on penalties. The on-loan Southampton keeper saved from Evanilson, Álex Jiménez and Bafodé Diakité to seal a 7-6 shootout win after a pulsating encounter had ended 3-3 after 120 minutes on a bitterly cold Tyneside afternoon.
Marcus Tavernier had taken the tie to penalties with an equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time at the end of extra time seconds after Harvey Barnes thought he had won it for the much-changed Magpies. The hosts had led through a Barnes goal but trailed 2-1 after Alex Scott and David Brooks scored in quick succession before Anthony Gordon’s late spot-kick.
Andoni Iraola also shuffled his pack but it was one of the five men he retained, Eli Junior Kroupi, who produced the first attempt on goal when he thumped a fifth-minute shot into Ramsdale’s midriff after running on to Enes Unal’s knockdown.
However, the hosts would have gone ahead two minutes later had Djordje Petrovic not managed to claw away Yoane Wissa’s curled attempt after Nick Woltemade had turned Barnes’s clever flick into his path.
Ramsdale fielded Kroupi’s shot with 29 minutes gone after the substitute Evanilson, on for the injured Unal, had played him in with his first touch, but the game slipped into a lull as the Cherries eased themselves back into it.
Sandro Tonali blasted wide from distance and Scott saw his attempt from a narrow angle blocked as the half-time whistle approached with little real prospect of an opening goal. That was remedied within five minutes of the restart when Barnes fed Woltemade before racing into the box to collect the Germany international’s return pass and slide the ball past the advancing Petrovic.
Bournemouth should have been level within two minutes when Tino Livramento tried to pick out Malick Thiaw with a ball across his own penalty area but instead found Evanilson and was grateful to see Ramsdale come to his rescue.
Evanilson had the ball in the net with 55 minutes gone after Ramsdale could only parry Kroupi’s piledriver, but from an offside position, before Sven Botman was unlucky not to increase the Magpies’ lead when his header from the substitute Lewis Hall’s corner came back off the underside of the bar.
Iraola’s men took full advantage within seconds when Evanilson and Brooks exchanged passes for the former to cross to the far post, where Scott tapped in, and there was more to come for the visitors when Brooks got in behind Kieran Trippier. Although Botman blocked his attempted pass, the midfielder curled a fine shot past Ramsdale from the rebound.
Petrovic twice denied Gordon, the second time brilliantly, as the clock ran down, but the former Everton man finally netted from the spot in added time after the keeper had brought down Tonali.
Barnes thought he had won it deep into the added 30 minutes when he headed home Gordon’s deep cross, but Tavernier ensured it went to penalties with the game’s sixth goal.
Bournemouth led 2-1 after Nick Woltemade and Bruno Guimarães failed to convert their spot-kicks while the visitors’ Evanilson did the same, but Newcastle scored six consecutive penalties, while Ramsdale saved from Jiménez after the first of them and eventually from Diakité.
