Newcastle United Advance in Carabao Cup with Late Willock Goal
Newcastle United are into the Carabao Cup last 16, but they had to fight for every inch of it in a tight, nervy night at The Den.
Julian Jaissle named a serious side for a serious assignment. This was no experimental cup XI. Yet for an hour his Premier League team laboured badly in the final third, dominating the ball but offering almost nothing to truly unsettle a stubborn Millwall.
The 2025 winners saw plenty of possession, moved it from side to side, and still looked strangely blunt. Attacks broke down on the edge of the box, crosses drifted harmlessly away, and the tempo sagged. The away end grew restless.
Only once in that frustrating opening spell did Newcastle properly test Filip Marschall. When Joe Willock finally broke into space and unleashed a vicious drive at the near post, the Millwall goalkeeper stood firm, beating the ball away with strong hands and a defiant roar. It felt, at the time, like a moment that summed up the night.
But Willock refused to disappear from the game.
As the clock ticked into the final 10 minutes and the threat of a penalty shootout loomed larger, Newcastle finally found the incision they had been missing. Lewis Hall, who had been probing down the flank, drilled a precise low cross into the heart of the penalty area on 81 minutes.
Willock reacted first. One sharp movement, one clean touch, and the ball was in the net. Millwall’s resistance, so disciplined for so long, was finally pierced.
The roar from the travelling supporters was part joy, part relief. They had watched their side toil, seen attacks stall, and sensed the upset brewing. That single, scruffy, decisive finish changed everything: Jaissle’s unbeaten start to the campaign stayed intact, and Newcastle’s name went into the hat.
Millwall, though, had every right to feel they had pushed a top-flight side to the brink.
Before Willock’s breakthrough, the tie was tilting dangerously. Substitute Tairyk Arconte almost wrote the headline of the night when he seized on a lapse from Tino Livramento, burst clear and drove low across goal. His effort beat the goalkeeper but not the woodwork, crashing back off the post and skidding away to safety. For a few seconds, The Den held its breath.
Newcastle’s frustration had already been simmering at the other end. Right on the stroke of half-time, they screamed for a penalty when Fabian Schar appeared to have his shirt tugged inside the box by Caleb Taylor. Arms went up, players surrounded the referee, but the appeals were waved away. No spot-kick, no VAR lifeline, and the visitors were left to find a way through from open play.
They eventually did, through Willock’s late strike, and that was enough.
With the tricky cup assignment survived, Newcastle can now switch back to league business with a little more confidence and a place in the last 16 secured. Leeds United await in the Premier League, a chance for Jaissle’s side to turn grinding cup progress into genuine momentum.
Millwall, emptied but not disgraced, must reset quickly. The Lions return to Championship duty against Blackburn Rovers, knowing that if they bring this level of intensity to their league campaign, nights like this might yet shape a very different story.
