Eddie Howe described Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup exit to Chelsea as a “painful moment” after conceding a goal in injury time and losing on penalties.
Howe stopped short of saying Moises Caicedo should have been sent off, but he was told he should have been for a shocking challenge on Anthony Gordon early in the game. Howe and his players appeared dejected as they exited the field in the capital, but Newcastle must now pick themselves up and prepare to face Luton Town on Saturday.
“I’m going on what other people have said, and they said it should be a red card,” Howe said of the red card that would have changed the narrative.
It’s a very difficult time for us. We’ll just have to accept it and digest it quickly because we return to the Premier League and face Luton Town. “That will be an emotional game.”
Sven Botman was taken off at halftime but did not sustain any injuries. Howe stated that it was too early to tell how badly injured Emil Krafth, who was the victim of yet another bad challenge from Levi Colwill, and Gordon were on a brutal night.
“Botman was a planned substitution after 45 minutes, a nice step for him,” he said. Krafth and Gordon both received knocks.”
“It’s a very similar feeling to the end of the PSG game,” Howe said when asked about the game plan. The lads had given everything, and we had led for so long. We’d played excellent defense, but we couldn’t cross the line.
“When we concede, we do so collectively, not individually.” Today, I thought we were excellent defensively as a team. Our shape was excellent, and we denied them several clear-cut opportunities. Due to injuries, we had to make some changes once more. I can’t say enough good things about the players.
“We tried to refocus and forget about the last few minutes of the game and the fact that we were in a shootout to advance to the semi-finals.” Penalty shootouts are always a lottery, and we weren’t quite lucky that time.”
