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Eddie Howe bites back at fierce Newcastle critics after £123m season saving selection call

Eddie Howe knew that Newcastle United's season was on the line against Chelsea at St James' Park in the Carabao Cup.

And rather than rotating his side, he arguably wielded the axe for the crunch encounter against the Blues - benching out of sorts skipper Bruno Guimaraes in one brave call with Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento and Dan Burn also named substitutes. With £123m worth of talent relegated to the bench you wondered if it was a drastic move.

But those who stepped in were magnificent with Emil Krafth, Joe Willock, Lloyd Kelly and Sean Longstaff all paving the way to the last eight of a competition fans want to fall in love with all over again. The damage was done in the first half with a weakened Chelsea team unable to spark any kind of response.

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Having thrown Anthony Gordon in just three days after he complained of a groin injury, only time would tell if it had been another Alexander Isak-type risk in terms of rushing a player back too early. You would not have been able to tell with just 30 seconds on the clock though as Gordon steamed into a challenge on Benoit Badiashile.

It had slight spats of the start of the game against Paris St-Germain last season in terms of trying to set the tone but that has been tough to replicate for Howe in the last 12 months. And Newcastle's clinical touch was also missing on three minutes when Isak crossed from the right for Joelinton to the back post but he steered the ball off the upright for an absolute sitter.

Chelsea - who made 11 changes from Sunday's game but kept Cole Palmer up their sleeve on the bench - saw an early effort from Renato Veiga sent wide via a deflection on eight minutes as the away side pressed. Joelinton forced a corner from Tosin Adarabioyo on 13 minutes but as had been the case for most of the season - the set-play came to nothing.

The Blues looked dangerous when they tried a long ball over the midfield, and one caught Fabian Schar napping on 17 minutes with the Swiss defender having to dive in late on Christopher Nkunku and earning a yellow card.

However, Newcastle grabbed the lead on 23 minutes to raise the roof at St James' Park. Joelinton deserves a huge bit of credit for forcing Renato Veiga into a mistake on the edge of the box before Sandro Tonali prodded the ball into the path of Isak who swept it magnificently under Filip Jorgensen.

The crowd had barely settled back into their seats when Newcastle made it 2-0. Lewis Hall moved the ball down the left with Isak's cross taking a deflection of Nkunku before Joe Willock flicked it into the danger zone and Axel Disasi could only turn into his own net.

Chelsea threatened to pull one back but an ambitious effort from Sean Longstaff underlined the fact that Newcastle were just one more goal away from effectively sealing the tie. The Magpies went in with a comfortable lead at half-time with the underlying fear of the Blues' bench seemingly the only game-changer for Maresca's men.

But Newcastle kept piling on the pressure with Jorgensen making a save low down on 49 minutes to deny Hall at the Gallowgate End. A Chelsea change arrived just before the hour mark when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall came off for danger man Noni Madueke.

United made a couple of changes themselves on 63 minutes as Isak went off after a fine shift with William Osula getting a big chance while Willock was also replaced by Bruno Guimaraes. Chelsea got a real sight of goal when Adarabiyo poked it through for Joao Felix but his effort rolled wide of the post as he failed to capitalise.

And at that stage you got the feeling Newcastle had done enough to earn their place in the last eight draw. Osula had a great chance to put the lid on it but his late effort clipped the post and went out.

Lewis Miley came on for Tonali in stoppage time and enjoyed a standing ovation with the previous boos for tactical tweaks quickly forgotten. Howe hugged Tonali as he took his place on the bench.

It was job done for Howe and as the pressure eased Newcastle knew their season was alive in the Carabao Cup for at least another two months.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh

Attendance: 51, 934