Sheffield Wednesday vs Newcastle United. The FA Cup Third Round.
HillsboroughAttendance25,884.
Match report as League One Sheffield Wednesday stun Newcastle in FA Cup third round with 2-1 win at Hillsborough; Josh Windass scores twice for home side in second half; Owls held on despite Bruno Guimaraes pulling one back for the visitors who suffer only second defeat of the season
Sunday 8 January 2023 10:06, UK
Josh Windass scored twice as League One Sheffield Wednesday stunned Premier League high-flyers Newcastle 2-1 at Hillsborough to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Wednesday, who are second in League One, inflicted one of the biggest shocks in this year's third round as Newcastle suffered just their second defeat in all competitions this season - their previous loss coming at Liverpool in the Premier League on August 31.
Windass gave the home side the lead in the 52nd minute with a close-range goal, although the forward looked in an offside position with VAR not in operation.
Windass then doubled Wednesday's lead in the 65th minute as he coolly converted after racing through.
But just four minutes later Newcastle pulled one back through substitute Bruno Guimaraes as he poked home from close range from a corner, although the Brazilian also appeared offside.
The Owls held on, though, to extend their unbeaten run to 10 games in all competitions, while the Magpies exit the competition at the third-round stage for the third consecutive season.
"We are aware that we don't have the deepest squad of any team in the Premier League, we are low on numbers but we feel high on quality," beaten boss Eddie Howe said.
"You pick your team looking ahead to future games. We have a very quick turnaround, late kick-off today and then Leicester on Tuesday [in the Carabao Cup]. I felt I saw some fatigue in the lads at Arsenal, it was a great performance, I thought it would be unwise of me to pick the same team for this game and Leicester as well."
Newcastle's first taste of what might be in store for them came when Cameron Dawson produced a fine stop to deny Alexander Isak a goal on his first appearance since September as he clawed away the Sweden striker's header.
Dawson again had to be alert to deny Isak, saving a low drilled effort with his legs after another clever pass from Javier Manquillo.
However, it was Wednesday who took the lead against the run of play early in the second half after some superb play by George Byers and Windass was then on hand to turn Dennis Adeniran's cross home from close range.
Newcastle should have instantly responded, but Dawson produced a brilliant stop to keep out Elliot Anderson's effort after a loose ball fell to the Newcastle midfielder eight yards out and then was alert to tip over Jacob Murphy's swerving shot from distance.
Those stops proved pivotal as the Owls doubled their lead in the 66th minute, with Windass played in by Michael Smith, and he made no mistake, firing past Martin Dubravka to send Hillsborough wild.
But Newcastle were able to find an instant response this time as it was their turn to be grateful for the lack of VAR.
Guimaraes was in a clear offside position as he poked home from close range after Dawson had kept out Chris Wood's header from Kieran Trippier's corner.
The final 15 minutes were an onslaught, barring Windass' brilliant free-kick which hit the bar, as Wood missed a glorious chance in the 82nd minute as Joelinton surged forward and teed up the striker who, with the goal gaping, skied over to sum up Newcastle's night in South Yorkshire.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe:
"We are aware that we don't have the deepest squad of any team in the Premier League, we are low on numbers but we feel high on quality.
"Injuries will dictate how stretched you feel. We gave an opportunity to a lot of players that haven't played a lot of minutes this season, I thought there were positives and negatives within their performances.
"You pick your team looking ahead to future games. We have a very quick turnaround, late kick-off today and then Leicester on Tuesday (in the Carabao Cup). I felt I saw some fatigue in the lads at Arsenal, it was a great performance, I thought it would be unwise of me to pick the same team for this game and Leicester as well.
"It was a disappointing result for us, I thought we gave it our all until the end, we created chances to score and we didn't take them.
"Their goalkeeper played very well, it was always going to be a difficult game coming here, we needed to get our noses in front and we didn't and that made it very difficult.
"We were desperate to win the game and I picked a team that I thought was strong enough to do that at the start of the match and the moments and chances were there for us in the first half to take the lead, we just weren't clinical in front of goal and that remained all the way through the second half as well."
Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore:
"It shows the FA Cup is still alive. We spoke before the game about what it brings, two clubs together in the pyramid, it was an excellent cup tie and I am really pleased the game lived up to what it was on paper.
"Sheffield Wednesday against Newcastle, both teams on a good run in their respective leagues.
"What pleased me most was that we had a gameplan that we had been working on in the week, it was to engage them high up the pitch, not sit back and allow them to pick us off. It was a brave decision by us and it worked.
"Josh Windass will get the headlines, it was two exceptional goals. But I thought overall it was a solid performance."
