Newcastle United needed extra-time to secure a home tie against Watford in the next round of the FA Cup.

The Magpies showed great character after being pegged back to 2-2 by a determined Blackburn Rovers side. 

The story of the match

Sean Longstaff opened the scoring in less than a minute after his long-range strike took a wicked deflection past David Raya.

Callum Roberts Doubled the Magpies' lead with a beautiful volley for his first goal on his first start for the club.

Adam Armstrong halved the deficit after sliding it underneath ex-teammate Freddie Woodman's legs.

Darragh Lenihan levelled the scores in added time with a thumping header into the top corner.

In the last seconds of first-half extra time, Joselu finished after a mistake from Raya.

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Ayoze Perez finished past Raya from an acute angle that Raya will feel he may have done better with.

Newcastle started quickly and were clearly not scared to go direct which they did from kick-off.

Longstaff took a shot from outside the box and a big deflection sees the youngsters' shot fly into the Blackburn net after only 57 seconds.

That strike was Longstaff's first goal for the club he grew up supporting.

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Roberts doubled the Magpies' lead after Jacob Murphy beat his man easily to cross for Roberts to volley home his first goal for Newcastle on his first start for the club as well.

Former Newcastle player, Armstrong was played in easily by Danny Graham and then finished calmly to drag his side back into the game.

Blackburn scored from their first shot on target which highlights Newcastle's vulnerability at the back.

The home side equalised through Lenihan with their second shot on target in the last minute of the half to give Blackburn hope going into the second half.

A disastrous start to the second half for Newcastle with Ciaran Clark going off with an injury at half-time with Jamaal Lascelles replacing him, before injuring his hamstring and having to go off himself.

Joselu had a chance to put Newcastle back in the lead after a pull back from Murphy but the striker could only guide his shot wide.

The Magpies may have had a penalty for the follow through after Joselu's shot but Lee Probert was unmoved.

Lascelles' replacement, Isaac Hayden met Matt Ritchie's cross but could only watch on as his header came back out off the post from a tight angle.

Neither side threatened to score in the second-half as Blackburn failed to register a shot on target after they scored their second.

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Both sides failed to create any good opportunities to win the tie so extra-time was needed which was something Rafa Benitez would not have wanted.

At the end of the first period of extra-time Graham played in Bradley Dack who looked certain to score but could only send his shot wide of the post.

Into the second minute added on, Fabian Schär hit a wicked shot from outside the box that Raya spilt to Joselu who finished cooly under pressure.

Blackburn will feel hard done by as Joselu was a few yards offside as he followed up the shot before putting Newcastle ahead.

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Perez was played in by Ritchie on the halfway line and seemed like he had nowehre to go before smashing passed Raya from an almost impossible angle.

Takeaways from the match

Newcastle have some good young players 

Benitez took a very thin squad down to Ewood Park and the players promoted up from the under 23s did not disappoint.

Longstaff and Roberts put the Magpies in the lead and continue to impress throughout which will give the Spaniard confidence they can play a key part in the Magpies' bid to stay in the Premier League.

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Longstaff put in yet another good performance to warrant a place in the starting line-up against Cardiff as well as showing he can fill the void left by Ki Sung-Yeung.

Injuries continue to pile up

Benitez was worried about any of his players getting injured and his worst nightmare came true as he saw two defenders go off injured.

Clark went off at half-time and was replaced by Lascelles who injured his hamstring after two minutes and had to be replaced by Hayden.

Hayden himself was limping at the end of 90 minutes as well Schär holding his hamstring in extra-time which is not what Benitez needed heading into a crucial game against Cardiff on Saturday.

Man of the match

On only his second start for the club, Longstaff was superb for the Magpies as he kept the ball moving quickly in midfield and put the away side on the front foot after 57 seconds.

The academy graduate looked like he had been playing in the first-team all season with his range of passing and cool head on the ball.

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