Newcastle United have found Sandro Tonali 'understudy' as transfer request issued at St James' Park

Lewis Miley, Anthony Gordon and Will Osula scored to cancel out Cameron Congreve’s shock opener and secure Newcastle’s progress over the League Two side. The Magpies will now travel to Birmingham City in the fourth round on the weekend of February 8.

Here are five talking points from the match...

Nine changes made by Eddie Howe as Alexander Isak & three more ruled out

After the impressive 2-0 win at Arsenal on Tuesday in the Carabao Cup semi-final, head coach Eddie Howe changed the majority of his side for Sunday’s FA Cup tie. Only goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and midfielder Joelinton kept their place in the starting line-up as Howe called up his fringe players.

There was a snub of sorts for goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, who is still yet to make his full debut for Newcastle having arrived from Nottingham Forest for £20million in the summer.

Will Osula was handed only his second start since arriving from Sheffield United in the summer while Matt Targett and Lewis Miley started for the first time since November 2023 and February 2024 respectively after long injury absences.

Fabian Schar returned from suspension to come straight back into the side while Bruno Guimaraes was named as part of a largely very strong bench, supplemented by Under-21s players.

20-year-old defender Alex Murphy and 17-year-old Trevan Sanusi were called up for a place among the substitutes. The latter would come on to make his competitive debut for the club.

Alexander Isak was rested for the match with a hamstring issue as were Sven Botman, Jacob Murphy and Joe Willock after the win at Arsenal.

Lewis Miley back with a bang after a false start

All the changes didn’t have the desired impact for Newcastle initially as they went behind to Bromley inside the opening eight minutes. Congreve pushed Miley off the ball before finding the bottom left corner of the goal to give League Two side a shock lead at St James’ Park.

Fortunately, Newcastle and Miley quickly quelled the momentum of an FA Cup upset to make it 1-1 less than 10 minutes later. Targett and Miley combined on their first starts of the season with the 18-year-old finding space outside the box and unleashing a venomous strike into the top right corner of the goal.

It was only Miley’s second senior goal for his boyhood club and it came on his first start in almost 11 months - but his celebrations were still muted as it only made amends for the early set-back, the hosts still had a job to do.

Miley came into the side in the No. 6 role and pulled the strings effectively in midfield while those around him largely struggled in the first half in particular. The teenager started several attacks and picked out his teammates well to show his value to Howe as Sandro Tonali’s understudy in the No. 6 position.

£85m double change for Newcastle United at half-time

With the score 1-1 at the break, Howe turned to his bench to bring on two of Newcastle’s most prominent players in Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes. Joelinton made way in a pre-planned change while Harvey Barnes was forced off with a muscle injury.

The winger had been mostly ineffective in the opening 45 minutes and could be seen holding his leg at the end of the first half.

Explaining the change, Howe said: “Bruno and Joelinton was planned, as much as you can. Because, of course, you can change your mind.

“But that was what I wanted to do with those two. Harvey wasn't planned. He felt a muscle problem. So we had to withdraw him and put Anthony in.”

Gordon made a near-instant impact after Matt Targett won a penalty minutes into the second half. The winger put the demons of his saved penalty at Everton behind him to convert his sixth goal of the season to put Newcastle ahead.

From there, The Magpies had the quality and fitness on the pitch that meant they never really had to look back or worry about a Bromley fight-back.

Martin Dubravka sent Newcastle United transfer request from supporters

In the second half, a large section of the 52,088 fans in attendance started singing Martin Dubravka’s name to which the goalkeeper responded with applause. He had stopped by the time the supporters in the Gallowgate Stand started chanting ‘Martin Dubravka, we want you to stay’ in a clear reference to his links with a move to Saudi Arabia.

Dubravka has a deal on the table to join Al-Shabab but Newcastle are growing increasingly confident of keeping the goalkeeper at St James’ Park at least until the end of the season.

Howe said after the match that he hopes Dubravka will remain at the club having held discussions about his future.

“Martin, touch wood, I hope he will stay and I don't think that will change,” Howe said. “We've had discussions, of course, about his future, but I think we're very relaxed.

“I said earlier, he never said he wanted to leave. I think he's enjoying playing. He's enjoying the moment the team's in. So I don't expect any major announcement.

“We hope that everything will die down and now he's very much part of our future.”

Will Osula opens his account for Newcastle United

Newcastle confirmed victory just after the hour mark as Will Osula scored a stunning goal on only his second start for the club. The 21-year-old received Guimaraes’ pass down the right with plenty to do but opted to cut inside and show some tidy footwork before unleashing a thunderbolt strike with his left foot into the left side of the goal to make it 3-1.

Given his limited first-team opportunities this season, the goal, even against League Two opposition, felt like a big moment for the young forward who continues to develop behind the scenes. There’s a lot to like about Osula with his pace and power certainly catching the eye but his rawness is also evident.

“Today was a big test for him,” Howe said afterwards. “I think there was a bit of pressure on him. He wanted to score. He felt he needed to score. So I'm delighted he's got that out of the way.

“His goal was right out the highest level. A brilliant finish from him. So I'd like to see him in a different kind of environment, a different kind of game where he can maybe utilise his skill set a bit more.”