Two years after their preparations for the Carabao Cup Final were blighted by Nick Pope's dismissal and consequent suspension, lightning struck again at the same end of St.James' Park on Sunday.

The Newcastle goalkeeper was red-carded by referee Anthony Taylor during a Premier League loss to Liverpool in 2023, leaving his side a man short and sidelining him at Wembley the following weekend. 

Fast forward to 2025 and it was Anthony Gordon who was censured by Taylor, plunging his side's final plans into chaos, not to mention blighting their hopes of booking a return visit in the FA Cup.

Having already appeared for previous club Everton in the Carabao Cup competition before joining United in early 2023, Gordon was ineligible to play for his new side against Manchester United - and two years later he'll be a Wembley spectator once again, unless an unlikely appeal is successful. 

The fateful incident took place in the 83rd minute of this tie with the scores locked at 1-1 and the prospect of 30 minutes of extra time and a penalty shootout after that looming large.

The whistle had sounded for an offside before Gordon and Jan Paul van Hecke tussled for the ball towards the Strawberry Corner, the Dutchman throwing himself to the ground clutching his face.

Initially indicating a free kick for the original offence, referee Taylor was prompted by his off-field colleagues to dismiss Gordon for a two-handed shove on the side of van Hecke's face. Undoubtedly brainless and certainly avoidable, punishment in the form of a three game ban matching that given to Millwall's Liam Roberts for his Cantona Kung Fu tribute a day earlier seems ludicrously excessive.

The second pivotal VAR decision took place ten minutes later - after Albion had themselves gone down to ten men after Tariq Lamptey's second yellow card of the afternoon.

The free kick awarded for that foul on Jacob Murphy was played into the Brighton area by Bruno Guimaraes, to be met with a fierce first-time volley that Fabian Schar buried into the Gallowgate net. 

What seemed like a memorable 20th Newcastle goal for the defender and his first in this competition was celebrated wildly, until it became evident that the tie wasn't restarting..... 

The semi-automated system duly ruled that the top of Schar's torso was marginally offside, sending the tie into extra time. And like the Gordon dismissal prompted by the first VAR usage in the FA Cup this season, the offside technology was debuting this weekend in English football; had either incident occurred in an earlier round, we'd be quarter-finalists and Gordon would be Wembley-bound. 

While technology demonstrably played a part in decisions that sealed United's FA Cup fate and further lessened their Carabao Cup chances, the underlying failures were rather more traditional - at least to black and white eyes.

There seems to be something sadly lacking in this club's collective DNA when counting down to  that manifests itself in results and performances once the "tell me ma" tat appears on street corners. 

A team looking lethargic and uninspired for long periods has misplaced the discipline and momentum that took them past Arsenal in the semi-final, Eddie Howe following his predecessors in attempting to break a cycle of coasting downhill to Wembley (and Cardiff) in the mistaken belief that we'll just turn up and turn it on.

Six changes from the side beaten at Anfield in midweek confirmed Eddie Howe's level of intent in booking a second - and third - visit to the national stadium this year. That included Alexander Isak despite the slight groin strain that does seem to be real rather than a ruse as was suspected. Fit-again Joelinton also returned while Martin Dubravka was reinstated after Pope's two game recall raised more questions than answers. In the question of one or the other, we're neither.

However the intensity just wasn't there despite Isak's 22nd minute penalty getting the hosts off to a decent start. The Swede then burst through to ripple the Leazes End net again ten minutes later, but was rightly denied by a raised offside flag and rapid VAR confirmation.

Albion equalised just before half-time when Yankuba Minteh - who had given away the penalty by fouling Tino Livramento - hit an effort that flew in off Kieran Trippier's boot. Elliot Anderson may not have managed to find the net against his old side, but our other close season sale did the trick. 

Clear chances were rare at either end after the break, United marginally improving their tempo if not their potency after a triple substitution before the hour. One of those substitutes, Joe Willock, then completely missed a simple header in front of goal before the red cards appeared.

Both sides had made their full quota of replacements before the Schar incident and consequent extra-time and with Joao Pedro limping for Albion, United looked more likely to win it - although they grateful to Dubravka for denying Diego Gomez and Burn for completing the clearance.

That changed when substitutes Solly March and Danny Welbeck combined in the 114th minute; the 34 year-old former mackem striker lifting the ball over Martin Dubravka at the Leazes End with the ailing Livramento playing him onside.

Welbeck struck the winner in the Premier League meeting here last October but we were our own worst enemies again, sloppy in possession and ultimately outsmarted. For a team winning their fifth successive league and cup game for the first time ever as a top-flight side, Albion proved to be no more than mediocre opposition.

Pushed into the forward line, Dan Burn fired a fierce shot across goal that could have taken the tie to penalties had it hit the target, but the damage was done earlier on another calamitous afternoon.

While it's no novelty to have reached the landmark of 70 FA Cup failures since last lifting that trophy - and for Brighton to have claimed our scalp for the fifth time in that sequence, the consequences of this latest exit are what leaves a sour taste in the mouth once the dust has settled. 

The knocks that forced Isak and Trippier off and left Livramento ailing may not be serious enough to sideline them at Wembley, but Lewis Hall's ankle injury doesn't bode well and the Sven Botman situation also causes concern as we move to within one game of the final with him still absent. 

And then there's Gordon - whose likely absence may provide a route back into the side for Harvey Barnes, but one that his perfunctory performances of late hardly warrant. A full-strength, in-form Newcastle side might just catch Liverpool on an off day, one containing the likes of him and Matt Targett won't, regardless of who goes in goal. You couldn't write it, but sadly we often have to.

Biffa/Niall MacKenzie