Nick Pope enhanced his World Cup credentials with three penalty shoot-out saves as Newcastle edged past Crystal Palace into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
The night before England boss Gareth Southgate named his squad for Qatar, the Magpies keeper denied Luka Milivojevic, Jean-Philippe Mateta, and Malcolm Ebiowei from 12 yards to secure a 3-2 shoot-out victory after a drab 0-0 draw on Tyneside.
Earlier in the day, the club had announced that its Saudi-led ownership group had taken its total investment past £450million with a £70.4million equity injection to further its intention to “build a club that can compete consistently at the highest levels of English and European football”.
Newcastle, of course, has not won a major trophy since 1969 and last claimed domestic silverware 14 years earlier, but a record crowd of 51,660 for a League Cup tie at St James’ Park turned up hoping to see the club move a step closer to ending that drought. This is what makes football betting more exciting.
Ultimately, a side featuring eight changes from Sunday’s 4-1 league win at Southampton did just that, but it was a painful business after the thrills and spills of their surge into the Premier League’s top three in recent weeks.