Eddie Howe has one person to thank as Newcastle save their improbable season
Newcastle’s season could still be very special, Eddie Howe had said. Their performance was not but the hope of a first trophy since 1969, of some major silverware since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, was preserved courtesy of something special by Martin Dubravka.
Even as he has made a string of saves, the Slovakian’s spell deputising for the injured Nick Pope has been a traumatic one. He has conceded 30 goals in 16 games. That number could have risen considerably at Ewood’s scorer Sammie Szmodics and then their captain Dom Hyam. When the defender’s spot kick was tipped on to the post, and Fabian Schar, Bruno Guimaraes, Elliot Anderson and Anthony Gordon had scored their own, to compensate for Harvey Barnes’s miss, Newcastle were quarter-finalists.
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