Newcastle United were forced to come from behind to progress into the Carabao Cup third round and relied on set-pieces to get the better of Tranmere Rovers. A shock was brewing when the League Two side took a 21st-minute lead but Eddie Howe’s team scored either side of half time to book a home tie with Crystal Palace.
Despite Tranmere’s breakthrough coming against the run of play, the game turned when Kieran Trippier came off the substitute's bench in the 39th minute. The right back replaced the injured Emil Krafth, who was stretched off having twisted his knee. Trippier delivered the corner from which Jamaal Lascelles levelled and then provided an assist for Chris Wood to score the winner.
Story of the game
Tranmere’s start to the season has been underwhelming with just one win in their first five league games, but they had defeated Accrington Stanley 12-11 in a mammoth penalty shoot-out in the previous round of this competition.
For Newcastle, only Joe Willock remained from Sunday’s pulsating 3-3 draw against Manchester City, but the ten changes that Howe could make and still have a strong bench highlighted the depth that he now possesses after a summer of astute recruitment.
With Prenton Park in full voice, the visitors set about quelling the atmosphere. Theirs was a positive and confident start, and the low shot fired wide of Mateusz Hewelt’s goal by Elliot Anderson from the edge of the area was the closest the away side came in the early stages.
However, Tranmere’s performance bellied their current 17th position in League Two and on 21 minutes a sweeping move provided their opening goal. A swift exchange of passes in their own half saw Lee O’Connor clip the ball forward for Josh Dacres-Cogley to chase. The right wing-back ran at a sparse Newcastle defence and centred for Elliott Nevitt to dispatch a first-time finish beyond Karl Darlow.
It was a moment to cherish for the 25-year-old goalscorer who only turned professional in July 2021 and made his professional debut 12 months ago having played Sunday league and non-league football for Burscough, City of Liverpool, Bootle, Waterloo Dock and Warrington Rylands 1906.
At first glance, the evening worsened for Newcastle when Krafth felt his knee buckle and was carried off. But the arrival of Trippier changed their fortunes. The 31-year-old’s first touch was for a free-kick that brought about a corner. With his second address of the ball, Trippier whipped in the subsequent corner towards Lascelles at the back post and the captain finished past Hewelt at the second time of asking.
In first-half stoppage-time Tranmere striker Kane Hemmings was fortunate to only receive a booking after challenging Darlow with a raised foot.
Newcastle pushed on after the interval and netted a second seven minutes into the new half. Wood capitalised on some slack Tranmere defending to get his head to Tippier’s in-swinging corner.
Hewelt’s reactions prevented Wood from scoring his second of the game and the Tranmere goalkeeper was also required to push Sven Botman’s header over the crossbar. No third goal for Newcastle kept the tie alive, but despite Tranmere having their own spells in the final third, Micky Mellon’s team couldn’t find a late equaliser.
Teams
Tranmere: Hewelt; Dacres-Cogley, Byrne, Turnbull, Jameson (Lewis 70), Bristow; O’Connor, Nolan (Hawkes 58), McAlear; Nevitt, Hemmings.
Subs (not used): Doohan, Fisher, Hockenhull, Merrie, Lomax, Hughes, Taylor.
Newcastle: Darlow; Krafth (Trippier 39), Lascelles (Botman 70), Dummett, Targett (Lewis 46); Willock (Joelinton 70), Longstaff, Anderson (Guimaraes 85); Ritchie, Wood, Murphy.
Subs (not used): Gillespie, Fernandez, Manquillo, Almiron.
Referee: Anthony Backhouse.