The Good, The Bad, and The Average #32: NUFC player ratings vs. Birmingham City (a) [FAC4]

Well, that was a proper cup tie, wasn't it? Thankfully, it was also one that Newcastle United navigated pretty well, with Eddie Howe's much-changed side beating Birmingham City 3-2 at St Andrew's.

Two goals from Joe Willock and a return effort from Callum Wilson made the difference after the Magpies had fallen behind to a goal from a corner by Ethan Laird after just 40 seconds.

Nick Pope also had to pick a world-class shot out of his net, too, with Tomoki Iwata hitting one of the purest strikes we've ever seen to level the match at 2-2 just before the interval.

Another very good day at the office overall, then, with eye-catching performances from Tino Livramento, the aforementioned Joe Willock, and the bundle of raw energy that is Will Osula.

Here's how we scored it...

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The Good

Make no mistake about it, Birmingham were very tough opponents for us here. Eddie Howe was brave to make nine changes but it paid off handsomely with one of the most satisfying results of the season so far. The head coach will surely be glad of a week to prepare for the next game but must be hoping that the injuries to Dan Burn and Sven Botman aren't too bad.

Joe Willock was the main man for the Magpies at St Andrew's. He scored the equaliser—though we're not entirely sure the whole ball crossed the line—was heavily involved in the second and got a superb winner, putting in a fantastic shift in an unfamiliar position overall. He also made a big opportunity for Will Osula in the first half at the end of one of his trademark driving runs down the left and set up Jacob Murphy late on with another brilliant bit of play.

On the opposite flank, Will Osula got a cracking assist for the equaliser when meeting Wilson's cross at the back post and squaring the ball to Willock for an easy finish. He had a huge hand in the second goal too with a wonderful piece of play, though he missed an absolute sitter before Wilson stabbed home to get his second assist. He then didn't make the most of a chance later on when played in by Willock, but in the main, he gave Alex Cochrane a nightmare evening.

In between them leading the line for the first time in what feels like an age, Callum Wilson played a big part in the equaliser with good hold-up play and a powerful drive forward, with his cross finding Osula at the back post. He then finished in classic style for the second shortly afterwards, being quicker to the loose ball than everyone else. While he wasn't heavily involved in proceedings, pretty much everything he did was of a high standard.

Another contender for our Man of the Match award was Tino Livramento, who put in one of his best performances in black and white after a rough couple of months. He had a big hand in the second goal with a perfect overlapping run that was found by Longstaff, with his low cross finding Willock in the box, and generally showed a lot more end product than usual, while being typically calm in possession.

Although he didn't do enough to see us calling for him to come back into the first team, Nick Pope made a couple of fantastic saves to help us through to the fifth round. His first-half stop from Keshi Anderson at 0-1 was probably the pick of them, but he also saved our bacon at 3-2 when blocking low down with his right foot. It was noticeable how less safe on the ball he was than Martin Dúbravka and how much poorer his kicking was, sadly.

Emil Krafth and Lewis Miley each had good games for very different reasons, with Krafth's long passing catching the eye. He connected with 13/16 attempts, with some of his diagonal switches delightful to see. Miley never stopped running in midfield, playing as the deepest of the trio in the first half before moving to the left to accommodate Sandro Tonali after half-time. He never looked flustered, unlike some of his more senior colleagues!

He had some absolutely pap moments, as ever, but Sean Longstaff did plenty of good stuff too. He got the assist for the winner with a trademark run into the right side of the box and was also involved in the second goal, too, with the pass of the match for Livramento. Our main bugbears with him today were defensively, as he was left flat-footed by our League One opponents quite a few times.

Sandro Tonali and Fabian Schär made a positive impact from the bench, with the Italian shoring up the midfield and giving us a much better balance. Schär's passing was a major step up from Burn and he ended up making the most defensive actions in the game despite only being on the pitch for 47 minutes.

For the final word of this section, how about that performance from our hosts Birmingham City? They were perhaps a little bit too forceful at times, but it's hard not to admire the shift they put in. It's no wonder they'd had such a long unbeaten run before running into us and their crowd played a huge part in making this so tough. They're a proper club with a bit of an edge to them, so it's nice to see them back on the up.

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The Bad

While not as bad as some Premier League referees we've suffered this term, we wouldn't want Matthew Donohue to be in charge of too many of our games in the future. He seemed to take an age to make a decision and got plenty wrong for both sides, being serenaded with 'You're not fit to referee!' by the home fans and then the away contingent within a few minutes of each other.

Dan Burn had a difficult first half, losing Stansfield for Birmingham's biggest chance at 2-1 and getting the runaround from others in blue on a few occasions. He was sadly forced off the pitch in the 55th minute after tweaking his groin early in the second half and looked quite despondent when walking to the touchline. We hope it's nothing too serious because these poor games have been few and far between for him this season.

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The Average

This was a surprisingly nondescript showing from Bruno Guimarães, who played the first half as the left-sided of the three central midfielders. He usually excels against this sort of opposition but found it tough going against Birmingham's athletic players and was unable to put any sort of stamp on the contest.

Matt Targett was solid without being spectacular on a rare start at left-back. He found it hard up against Ethan Laird in aerial duels, but had much more joy against him on the deck, while he was quite a calming influence in possession as well. He's a very adequate backup to Lewis Hall if he's able to stay fit for a spell.

Brought on for Wilson early in the second period, Jacob Murphy took a while to get into the game but was a significant player in the latter stages. He should have wrapped things up in the 90th minute when being brilliantly played in by Willock but seemed to have too long to think about it and ended up seeing his shot blocked on the line.

Our super Swede Alexander Isak only made it onto the pitch for a matter of seconds. It was nice that we didn't have to rely on him too heavily to get through!

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The Breakdown

Most of our strong displays were at the top of the pitch, but there were a couple of good ones at the back too...

The XI

Nick Pope – 7

Tino Livramento – 9

Emil Krafth – 8

Dan Burn – 5 (off 55')

Matt Targett – 6

Sean Longstaff – 7

Lewis Miley – 7

Bruno Guimarães – 6 (off 46')

Will Osula – 9 (off 90+14')

Callum Wilson – 8 (off 55')

Joe Willock – 9 ⭐️

The Subs

Sandro Tonali – 7 (on 46')

Fabian Schär – 7 (on 55')

Jacob Murphy – 6 (on 55')

Alexander Isak – 6 (on 90+14')

The Gaffer

Eddie Howe – 8

The Opposition

Birmingham City – 7

The Ref

Matthew Donohue – 4

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The Next

Although not as intimidating as in the past, a trip to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City is still not something we're particularly looking forward to!

Weirdly, the match is an untelevised 3 p.m. (GMT) kick-off on Saturday, despite looking like a cracker on paper. Our record down there in the league? Played 19, won zero, drew two, and lost 17. Gulp.

Still... howay the lads! If it's ever going to happen it's going to be now!