A stoppage-time penalty from Khayon Edwards saw us beat Newcastle United in the first round of the Premier League 2 play-offs at Meadow Park.
It was the second of two spot-kicks we were awarded on the night, with Nathan Butler-Oyedeji putting us in front from 12 yards to give us a half-time lead, but that was quickly cancelled out by the Geordies’ Scott Bailey.
Some fine saves by Tommy Setford kept us level, but just as it seemed the tie was heading to extra-time, Edwards tucked home another penalty four minutes after coming off the bench to set up a quarter-final clash at Manchester City.
What happened
We began brightly and Butler-Oyedeji headed over an Ismael Kabia cross before Jimi Gower prodded a shot at Magpies keeper Aidan Harris, and that early positivity was rewarded on 25 minutes.
Visiting defender Cathal Heffernan mistimed a sliding challenge on Andre Harriman-Annous which brought our striker down inside the box, and after making his Premier League debut at Ipswich Town last weekend, Butler-Oyedeji capped off a fine few days by tucking home the spot-kick.
10 minutes later Setford was called into action for the first time when Sean Neave was allowed a sight of goal but our shot-stopper tipped the powerful blast over, but that was as good as things got for the Magpies who had offered very little in the opening 45 minutes.
However they were much improved after the restart and it took them just a minute to pull level. James Sweet was robbed by Bailey 35 yards from goal. He spotted Setford out of position and took aim, and the midfielder found the net despite the best efforts of our back-peddling custodian.
A high number of fouls and cards after the break led to a disjointed second half at times, but there were still big moments for both teams as they threw everything into finding a winner in the allotted 90 minutes.
Butler-Oyedei just missed from the edge of the area while an acrobatic attempt by Neave was flicked away for a corner after a swift counter-attack, and the same player had a huge chance when he prodded the ball past Setford after a knock-down fell into his path, but thankfully for us it drifted wide of the post.
As the game entered the final 20 minutes Jack Henry-Francis whipped a shot from the edge of box which rippled the top of the net, but another scare came when Anthony Munda flicked the ball up inside the box and volleyed into the side-netting, and with seven minutes to go Setford had to be at his best to fly across his goal and push an excellent Jay Turner-Cooke free-kick away from the top corner.
But in the first of four additional minutes of stoppage-time, we were awarded a second penalty when Rory Powell kicked Charles Sagoe Jr inside the box, and despite his recent introduction from the bench, Edwards sent Harris the wrong way from the spot to send us into the quarter-finals.
WHAT'S NEXT
Mehmet Ali's team will now head to Manchester City in the next round, after they beat Liverpool 2-1 after extra-time in their last-16 clash, thanks to two goals from Divin Mubama.
Line-ups
Arsenal: Setford, Rosiak, Sweet, Clarke, Washington, Henry-Francis, Oulad-M’Hand, Gower, Kabia, Butler-Oyedeji (Sagoe Jr 73), Harriman-Annous (Edwards 86).
Subs not used: Porter, Ismail, Copley.
Newcastle: Harris, Shahar, Hefferman, Thompson, Charlton (Powell 64), Bailey, Munda, Turner-Cooke (Sanusi 90), Parkinson, Kuol, Neave (Donaldson 90).
Subs not used: Taylor, Harrison.
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