In what was shaping up to be a possible night of frustration on Tyneside, Newcastle United ultimately saw off League Two side AFC Wimbledon by a 1-0 scoreline at St. James’ Park.
Scorers: Fabian Schär (45+1′ Pen)
Eddie Howe’s Magpies were expectantly dominant in front of home support in the northeast of England but struggled to turn their lopsided possession into anything tangible across 45 minutes of action.
That was, until the first minute of stoppage time when Switzerland international centre-back Fabian Schär slotted past Owen Goodman from the penalty spot after Miguel Almirón was brought down in the box by Huseyin Biler.
One-way traffic down the M1 continued in the second stanza in a half that saw Newcastle near-triple their efforts at goal while retaining 80% possession.
Howe rang the changes as well, bringing on Bruno Guimarães and Odisseas Vlachodimos to replace Harvey Barnes and Martin Dubravka, who unfortunately picked up an apparent knock before the interval.
Further changes saw Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall come on for Joelinton and Emil Krafth respectively, with Dan Burn coming on for Schär in stoppage to close out proceedings.
Despite questions surrounding frustrating attacking performances that have plagued Newcastle in the early part of the 2024-25 season in the Premier League, the Geordie faithful can still rest easy as the club marched on in the EFL Cup.
The Magpies will now head south to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in the fourth round at the end of October.