Newcastle United celebrate rare Joelinton goal as they comfortably see off brave Rochdale in FA Cup replay

You cannot call this a shock, but you do not often see Newcastle United cruising to an FA Cup win and it has been so long since Joelinton scored it was still a night of surprises on Tyneside.

It was a tap in, Newcastle’s fourth goal, but the Brazilian celebrated all the same, running to manager Steve Bruce for a bear hug before he was congratulated by every single one of his teammates. When you are striker who cost £40 million and have gone 20 games without a goal, they really do all count.

Rochdale had their moment in the first game, a 1-1 draw against top-flight opposition is an achievement in itself for a League One team. They can be proud of this FA Cup campaign. There was also lovely memory made by centre-back Jordan Williams, who was just as thrilled with his goal as Joelinton had been, even though it came when his side were 4-0 down.

This was a step too far for Brian Barry-Murphy’s side, but he and his players have done something special. The extra money raised in both domestic cup competitions this season will keep the business in a healthy state for at least a couple of years. That is a luxury few clubs in Leagues One and Two enjoy.

Newcastle have not enjoyed a cup run for far too long, but Bruce seemed happiest, not with the convincing nature of the result, or the fact almost 30,000 people turned up to watch this third-round replay on a cold night, but the fact his misfiring striker scored in front of the Gallowgate End.

“I have defended him and you just hope, with a striker, that one goal changes things,” said Bruce. “He’s only young, he’s got a big burden to carry and we have to stay with him and keep reminding him that he is a good player. When you are low on confidence, you need a hand, but he’s got a big heart and that will see him through.

“We are all relieved for him, we are all happy. The kid wants to do well, he would have liked to have done better, but he will improve, it is my job to keep pushing him along.

“We wanted to see if he could score a goal and that was the most pleasing thing of the night. When he ran towards the bench, I was worried he was going to jump on me but we had a cuddle and he shouted down my ear in Portuguese.”

Rochdale were beaten by half-time, despite having the first shot on goal of the night, an effort from Jimmy Keohane that went wide.

That sparked Newcastle into life and, having put one effort wide, Miguel Almiron put another against the post with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez beaten.

The League One side began to look strained and stretched and with that came an error, Matt Ritchie whipping a cross in and Eoghan O’Connell, thinking Joelinton was behind him, stuck out a leg and put the ball into his own net.

He was not alone in making such a costly error. Newcastle’s third goal came when, under pressure, Sanchez passed the ball straight to Almiron.

Newcastle’s second was a well taken effort by Matty Longstaff from another Ritchie cross and the Magpies had ended the cup tie as a contest inside half an hour.

They eased off after the break and Dale created a few opportunities; Jimmy Ryan, with a volley which dipped narrowly over, before Stephen Dooley sparked louds chants of Dale, Dale with a glancing header that also went close. At least Williams did give the travelling fans something to cheer late on.

“We gave away really poor goals in the first half and we couldn’t recover,” said Barry-Murphy. “But we have enjoyed this night and we have enjoyed the cup run. The experience this has given, especially to some of the young players, will be valuable.”

Match details

Newcastle (3-4-3):Darlow 6; Hayden 7, Lascelles 7 (Allan 56), Lejeune 6; Krafth 6, M Longstaff 7, S Longstaff 6, Ritchie 7; Atsu 7, Almiron 8 (Carroll 61), Joleinton 7.
Unused subs: Elliot, Clark, Willems, Fernandez.

Rochdale (4-4-2): Sanchez 4 (Lynch h-t); Matheson 6, O'Connell 5, Williams 7, Keohane 7; Norrington-Davies 6 (Tavares 69), Camps 6 (Andrew 80), Ryan 7, Dooley 6, Henderson 5, Wilbraham 5.
Unused subs: Baah, Bradley, Gillam, Brierley.

Attendance: 29,786