Alan Shearer left stunned by Newcastle United ‘signing’ following Southampton win

The Newcastle legend watched two of his former clubs go head-to-head for an advantage to progress to next month’s Wembley final. Joelinton’s second half strike was enough to secure a narrow win on the night for The Magpies, but they once again had Nick Pope to thank for another clean sheet.

The England international goalkeeper made two crucial saves to deny Che Adams in the second half and keep yet another clean sheet. It was Pope’s 10th consecutive competitive clean sheet for Newcastle in all competitions, a run of over 16 hours of football without conceding.

After the match, Shearer took to Twitter to voice his praise for the Newcastle No. 22 as he posted: “BTW Nick Pope. What a f…… signing man.”

The 30-year-old signed for Newcastle from Burnley in the summer for a reported £10million and has since kept 16 clean sheets in 24 appearances in all competitions – the best record of any goalkeeper in each of Europe’s top five leagues.

Pope hasn’t conceded a competitive goal since the start of November at Southampton in the Premier League and is yet to concede a goal in the cup. An 11th consecutive clean sheet next week against The Saints would guarantee Newcastle a place in the League Cup final for the first time since 1976.

In the Premier League, third placed Newcastle have kept six consecutive clean sheets and boast the best defensive record in the division with just 11 goals conceded.