Screw the Premier League, Newcastle and Howe must prioritise FA Cup after Fulham win | OneFootball

Newcastle United threw away a shot at the Carabao Cup. They have too much ground to make up in the Premier League top-four race. But they have a special opportunity in the FA Cup; it must be Eddie Howe’s priority.

Defeat against Fulham on Saturday evening would not have surprised any Newcastle fan. They have been dismal away from home this season and they have not been playing well at all in recent months, losing six of their last seven in the Premier League, leaving them a massive 14 points off fourth.

On top of this, they essentially knocked themselves out of the Carabao Cup – a competition they reached the final of last season – by somehow suffering penalty shoot-out heartbreak at Chelsea despite being 1-0 up in the 92nd minute.

Smashing arch-rivals Sunderland at the Stadium of Light was vital for confidence but it was a match Newcastle could not lose. The draw against Fulham was slightly daunting given their away form this term but it was of course a very winnable tie.

They didn’t exactly make light work of it at Craven Cottage. They had to work hard, defending soundly and limiting their hosts to mainly half-chances. And both of their goals in the 2-0 win had an element of luck.

Howe’s men started poorly, sloppily giving the ball away and struggling to play out from the back. Jacob Murphy – whose return from injury could be huge – was presented the first big chance of the game and ought to have done better. You can understand his lack of a scoring touch having been out of action since November 4.

The deadlock was broken in the 39th minute when Sean Longtaff latched on to a loose ball, smashing into the bottom corner with his left foot.

Fulham players were incensed by the decision to allow the goal to stand after the ball appeared to strike Bruno Guimaraes on the arm. But it stood with Newcastle and Howe on their way to a big win.

Dan Burn looked shaky in the opening 45 minutes but ended the night as the man of the match, a decision that was helped by his 61st-minute tap-in, for which he could thank some flimsy goalkeeping from Marek Rodak. His celebration was full of passion and came across as a bit of an ‘up yours’ to his critics, but it was also from the perspective of a Newcastle fan.

The Magpies’ last trophy win came in 1955 and as Geordie boys, Longstaff and Burn’s goals being the difference in an FA Cup win is fitting. If anyone in that squad knows what winning a major trophy will mean to the Toon Army, it’s them.

Ending the club’s trophy drought had to be a priority for Howe the day he walked through the door, and given how the 2023/24 campaign is going, winning the FA Cup has to be the aim.

Despite the financial benefits, Howe has to go for the FA Cup over Champions League qualification, which looks too difficult anyway. If truth be told, an away draw to Manchester City or Liverpool has to be the only FA Cup tie before the semi-final that fans can accept losing.

Fulham might have lower expectations than Newcastle but you have to feel that Marco Silva should have taken the competition more seriously.

This is a club without a major trophy in their entire history and their greatest achievement is reaching the FA Cup final in 1975, or the incredible Europa League run to the final in 2010.

Bernd Leno’s back-up, Rodak, should have done better for Newcastle’s second, which put the game to bed in truth. Rodak was not the only benchwarmer to get a chance to impress, which nobody in the white of Fulham did on Saturday night.

After crashing out of the Carabao Cup and with nothing better than mid-table mediocrity incoming in the Premier League, Silva should have put a full-strength XI out against a Magpies side that is very susceptible on the road.

Their season is already in danger of petering out and they will likely be the kind of team anyone wants to play. Those ‘on the beach’ sides you usually see in late April/May, you know? That is what Fulham might become in February. Bloody February!

While Fulham and Silva try to avoid going through the motions between now and the end of the season, Newcastle will look to use this victory as a shot in the arm for the second half of their season.

Howe’s side ended 2023 on a horrible note, losing 3-1 at home to Nottingham Forest courtesy of a Chris Wood hat-trick, and 2024 started pretty horrendously at Liverpool, but the FA Cup wins against Sunderland and now Fulham can be massive for momentum and with Champions League qualification looking awfully tricky, it is evident where Newcastle’s priority should lie: ending the bloody trophy drought.