33 mins Taking a short pass from Danny Rose near to the left hand touchline in his own half, Allan Saint-Maximin initially stumbled as he turned, but his rapid recovery took out two Albion players as he accelerated over halfway.

With two more home players obligingly standing off, the Frenchman had time to continue his forward run towards the centre of the pitch before slotting a perfect pass to Miguel Almiron, who made a diagonal run from the right.

Miggy's first touch saw him shoot left-footed across Jonathan Bond and into the far corner of the Birmingham Road End goal. 1-0

45+1 mins Valentino Lazaro and Javier Manquillo exchanged passes going forward down the United right and when the former attempted to pull the back into to Almiron from near the byline, the ball struck a defender. 

However it bounced nicely into the path of Joelinton, who had the presence of mind to backheel it to Miguel Almiron, who lashed a left-footer into the roof of the net from an almost sitting position level with the penalty spot. 2-0

Half time: Baggies 0 Magpies 2

47 mins Two Albion players left a speculative forward pass from Jamaal Lascelles to each other on the half way line as it bypassed Lazaro and it eventually ran to Joelinton, who laid it off to Almiron on the right.

He cut infield to play a curling ball out the left side of the box that reached the arriving Saint-Maximin, who was completely unmarked. Taking a touch, he slightly mis-hit his centre into the six yard box and the 'keeper went to ground near his front post in an attempt to block.

However Bond succeeded only in knocking it forward and into the path of Valentino Lazaro who let the ball hit his torso (or his penis) and deflect into the net from two yards out in front of the celebrating away contingent. To their right, disgruntled home fans turned and headed for the exits. 3-0

74 mins Kyle Edwards was able to send a second cross into the box after his first was half-cleared. Kenneth Zohore nod the ball down a Matt Phillips shot into the ground bounced up and in off the underside of the crossbar. 3-1

90+3 mins Edwards took a pass from Kieran Gibbs down the Baggies left and outwitted both Fabian Schar and Manquillo en route to reaching the byline. Zohore got ahead of recently-arrived substitute Florian Lejeune to turn home a near post cross past Karl Darlow from close in. 3-2

Full time: Baggies 2 Magpies 3

 

They Said

Slaven Bilic said:

"We ran out of time, but if we had scored a second with the few chances we had with 15 minutes to go, then I had a feeling we would have got a third.

"Unfortunately we scored the second a bit late. I am very proud of the guys but at the same time disappointed with the result.

"They put a very strong team out but we gave them way too much respect in the first half and let the midfielders feed their guys up front.

"The second goal was unfair because after the first one, we had a good spell and we told the guys at half time to unleash themselves and not show too much respect.

"But the worst thing that could happen happened in the second half when they got that third goal, but the reaction after that was absolutely magnificent.

"It’s a shame we couldn’t start like that but it was a very good performance from the boys.

"(There were two) reasons why I decided to go with this team.

One, the league is the priority. Maybe we were greedy, we wanted both, which is not wrong. Some of the players needed a rest, needed a break, considering the league and the situation we’re in.

"The second reason is that I have a very strong belief in the players who played tonight. They deserved a game, and the chance.

"I’m not disappointed with anyone. Some players got big pluses, some players got smaller pluses, but nobody disappointed.

"The first goal we tried to get the ball from their half and it was three of our players against one of theirs. It was our ball and then he nicked it and great pass, 1-0 - alright.

"Second...every goal is stoppable, but their second and third goals, not only the timing of them but the way we conceded them. You can’t do that against top division opponents."

The away fans may have serenaded the Hawthorns about missing their tea to go to Wembley, but the visiting players made a bit of a meal of reaching the last eight of the FA Cup on Tuesday night.

It's true that the the only thing that matters in cup football is the outcome, but only this club could leave their followers seething after achieving their best run in this competition since 2006.

3-0 up and apparently coasting against a much-changed home side whose priority rightly remains promotion, our attempts to see the game out once again backfired - as it had from winning positions away at both Rochdale and Oxford United.

In both of those ties, the replacement of Miguel Almiron sparked a comeback from the hosts that made it an unnecessarily nervous ending and tonight it happened again; Jonjo Shelvey's appearance unsettling his own side almost as much as the home substitutes.

The Paraguayan worried his pursuers all night and struck twice before half time to seemingly end the tie as a contest before Valentino Lazaro's maiden goal for the club gave us what for anyone else would be an unassailable lead.

Two late goals and a penalty shout in the final seconds threatened to derail us and although United missed several chances of their own as the tie opened up, Albion ended the night ahead on goal attempts.

This wasn't really a late collapse though; the warning signs were there within minutes of going three up; Rose twice clearing from inside his own six yard box at 3-0 and Kyle Edwards hitting the bar seconds before Albion's opener.

Another goal-line clearance from Schar at 3-1 was equally crucial, but the absence of VAR here proved not to be pivotal when a penalty shout for the home side was rightly ignored by the referee. Repeated reviews confirmed there was nothing doing, but in real time there was a micro-second of fear.

Keeping to his pledge of fielding strong line-ups, Bruce had begun with Joelinton, Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin; loan duo Nabil Bentaleb and Lazaro also returning to the side - the latter following his suspension.

The hosts meanwhile were forced into changes by injury and ineligibility but ended up fielding just two of the XI that started in the league last weekend.

An indifferent start by both sides was notable for Albion giving up territory far too easily and encouraging Newcastle to get upfield. For all that though, our efforts on goal remained woeful and Karl Darlow warmed his hands first.

Things kicked into gear just before half hour when Saint-Maximin rattled the woodwork from long range and the Frenchman then excellently played in Almiron for a confident finish akin to his goal up the road at Wolves.

That lead was doubled in first half stoppage time when Joelinton back-heeled a ball from the right across goal and Almiron lashed it into the top corner - Lazaro making his first tangible contribution from outside right, where he seemed a more natural fit than at wing back.

Goals and progress then - albeit expected, given the faded glories of players like Charlie Austin, Chris Brunt, Kieran Gibbs and 39 year-old Gareth Barry.

For 90 minutes (well 70, anyway), this was pure escapism: never mind a confidence boost to the squad, it was a shot in the arm for fans after the recent pain of watching Premier League games.

In reality though, nothing much has changed and the first decent side we come across will probably send us packing. Sometimes it's in the Third Round, this time it'll probably be 90 minutes from a Wembley Semi-Final.

Post-match, Steve Bruce talked about a tendency to self-destruct as being part of this club's DNA, but we were once genetically programmed to excel in the cup. Sadly that's now as much part of our history as European campaigns or a number 9 who scores goals.

Negative outcomes against Southampton and Sheffield United will make our Quarter Final tie a sad irrelevance and a millstone around our necks: it's not the team that are programmed to screw things up, it's the actual club. 

Biffa