Newcastle laboured to a 1-0 win over League Two side AFC Wimbledon to book their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
In a game that was rescheduled, and then reversed to St James’ Park due to AFC Wimbledon’s unfortunate pitch problems, it took a Fabian Schar penalty to split the sides, who are separated in the league pyramid by 72 places.
Eddie Howe’s much-changed side, with eight swaps from the weekend’s draw with Manchester City, were frustrated by their fourth-tier visitors, and made hard work of things until Miguel Almiron was upended by Joe Pigott in first-half stoppage time.
Schar despatched the resulting spot-kick with a calm, composed finish, to set up a fourth-round meeting with Chelsea at the end of October.
More to follow…
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Newcastle defender Fabian Schar nonchalantly puts the Magpies 1-0 up against AFC Wimbledon with a coolly-taken penalty
Carabao Cup fourth-round draw in full
Brentford vs Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton vs Stoke City
Tottenham vs Man City
Newcastle vs Chelsea
Man United vs Leicester
Brighton vs Liverpool
Preston vs Arsenal
Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace
Key dates for rest of the competition
Quarter-final: w/c December 16
Semi-final: w/c January 6 2025 (first leg) & w/c February 3 2025 (second leg)
Final: Sunday March 16 2025
