Newcastle United survived a serious Carabao Cup scare to beat West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at St James’ Park, giving Matthias Jaissle his first competitive victory as head coach.
Harvey Barnes came off the bench to score twice, including the 81st-minute winner, after Newcastle twice found itself in a game that threatened to slip away.
Jaissle made six changes from the 2-2 Premier League draw with Liverpool, handing competitive debuts to Ewen Jaouen and Bazoumana Touré.
Newcastle started brightly, particularly through Joe Willock, but West Brom grew into the contest and punished the hosts in the 19th minute when Isaac Price curled a 25-yard free kick around a two-man wall and beyond Jaouen at the near post.
The Championship visitor continued to cause Newcastle problems with its direct running, while Nick Woltemade struggled to impose himself in attack. Newcastle eventually began to regain control through 18-year-old Sean Steur, and the equalizer arrived in the 38th minute.
Steur released Amar Dedic on the right, and the summer signing drove a low cross into the area for Touré to convert from close range on his competitive debut.
Jaissle reacted at halftime by replacing Touré with Barnes, and the change paid off almost immediately. Three minutes after the restart, Barnes collected the fallout from a Newcastle corner, saw his initial attempt blocked and followed the shot into the area before firing the rebound past Matt Ingram to complete the turnaround.
Newcastle attempted to strengthen its grip by introducing Yoane Wissa, Lewis Miley and Anthony Elanga, but West Brom refused to disappear.
Lewis Hall handled inside the area in the 76th minute, conceding his second penalty in consecutive matches after the late incident against Liverpool, and Price calmly sent Jaouen the wrong way to make it 2-2.
The response, however, was immediate. Elanga accelerated down the right before finding Dedic, whose low delivery picked out Barnes in the middle.
The winger swept home first time in the 81st minute for his second goal of the evening, restoring Newcastle’s advantage only four minutes after West Brom had equalized and finally giving Jaissle’s team a lead it protected.
Jaissle praised both the opposition and Newcastle’s response afterward.
“It was important we saw character on the pitch,” Jaissle said. “Also after the second equaliser we stepped back and straight away we scored.”
Newcastle is through to the Carabao Cup third round, where it will travel to Millwall at The Den. Coming up next, a trip to London to face Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday for the Premier League’s MD2.
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