Newcastle Advances in Carabao Cup as Willock Scores Late

Newcastle are in the Carabao Cup last 16, but they had to drag themselves there. This was no procession for a Premier League side with serious ambitions. It was a grind, a scrap, and in the end, a narrow escape delivered by Joe Willock.

At The Den, Marco Jaissle did not take chances with his team selection. He sent out a strong, seasoned XI for this third-round tie, a clear signal that Newcastle treat this competition seriously after lifting the trophy in 2025. On paper, it looked like a mismatch. On the pitch, it never felt that way.

Newcastle saw plenty of the ball, almost from the first whistle. They moved it, probed, recycled. And yet, for an hour, their attacks dissolved on the edge of the Millwall box. Possession belonged to the visitors; the threat did not. The final pass kept going astray, the penalty area felt crowded, and the game grew increasingly tense.

Millwall, organised and stubborn, relished it. Every clearance drew roars from the home support, every block fed their belief that an upset was there for them if they could just hang in long enough.

The first real crack in their resistance came when Willock finally found some space and let fly. His effort was fierce, arrowing towards the near post, but Filip Marschall reacted superbly, springing to his right to beat the ball away. It was a statement save, the sort that lifts a ground and drains a favourite.

Newcastle’s frustration deepened just before half-time. From a set-piece, Fabian Schar tangled with Caleb Taylor in the area, his shirt clearly tugged as he tried to attack the ball. Arms went up, voices rose, but the referee waved away the penalty appeals. The visitors were forced to swallow the decision and go again, still searching for a way to break Millwall down from open play.

As the second half wore on, the jeopardy grew. Newcastle’s control of the ball meant little on the scoreboard, and Millwall sensed their moment. The home side almost flipped the tie on its head when substitute Tairyk Arconte pounced on a lapse from Tino Livramento. Arconte burst clear, drove into the box and drilled a low strike past the goalkeeper – only to see it cannon back off the post. The Den held its breath; Newcastle exhaled in relief.

That scare jolted the Premier League side. The game opened up, spaces appeared, and the pressure began to feel constant around the Millwall area. Still, the clock ticked down, the spectre of a penalty shootout looming larger with every wayward cross and blocked shot.

Then, at last, the resistance snapped.

With 81 minutes gone, Lewis Hall found a pocket of space wide and whipped in a drilled, accurate ball across the face of goal. It was the kind of delivery defenders hate: low, quick, demanding a touch from someone. Willock reacted first, darting into position and turning the cross into the net. One sharp movement, one clean finish, and the tie finally tilted Newcastle’s way.

The away end exploded, more in relief than celebration. They had watched their team toil, watched the minutes drain away, and now they had the moment they craved. Willock, denied once by Marschall, refused to let the night slip towards penalties.

Millwall tried to muster one last surge, but the energy they had poured into keeping Newcastle at bay left little in the tank. The upset slipped from their grasp, leaving only the rattle of seats and a sense of what might have been after Arconte’s strike hit the woodwork.

For Jaissle, the victory keeps his unbeaten start to the campaign intact and his side alive in a competition they know how to win. The performance was far from fluent, but the job was done, the trap at The Den avoided.

Newcastle now pivot back to the Premier League, where Leeds United await and the demand will be not just for results, but for rhythm and cutting edge that went missing for long stretches here.

Millwall, meanwhile, must park the disappointment and return to the grind of the Championship. Blackburn Rovers come to town next, and if they can channel the defiance they showed against top-flight opposition, their league climb may yet gather pace.