£52m man 'spotted' in Newcastle United celebrations at Ewood Park as dressing room photo truth revealed

Newcastle United didn't do things the easy way as they progressed through to the FA Cup quarter-final with a 4-3 penalty shootout win at Blackburn Rovers.

The match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes as Anthony Gordon's second-half strike was cancelled out by Sammie Szmodics. The scoreline remained the same in extra-time as the match headed to penalties.

Martin Dubravka saved two penalties in the shootout for Newcastle to see the away side progress to only their second FA Cup quarter-final since 2006 - here are some talking points from the match.

Five changes, no Sven Botman & surprise injury return

Following the 4-1 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday, head coach Eddie Howe made five changes to his Newcastle side. Dubravka returned from illness to come straight back in goal while Jamaal Lascelles started his first game in over two months as Sven Botman was rested.

Howe explained: "[Botman] was just rested today. We feel Sven would benefit more from training than being involved today."

Dan Burn also came back into the side for Tino Livramento while Joe Willock started his first match in over three months following his return from injury. Jacob Murphy also started on the right wing with Miguel Almiron dropping to the bench.

And among the substitutes was a surprise injury return for Elliot Anderson after more than four months out. The 21-year-old had only just returned to training but played his part in the victory as he came on as a late substitute.

Despite not touching the ball in extra-time, Anderson converted his penalty with confidence as Newcastle went on to win the shootout.

Arsenal 'hangover' evident?

Newcastle's performance at Arsenal was one of the side's worst of the season so far. Playing an out-of-form Championship side a few days later provided an ideal opportunity to bounce back and restore confidence.

But things didn't materialise in that manner as Blackburn often looked the more threatening side and, had it not been for Dubravka, could have quite easily progressed.

Given the level of opposition, Newcastle's display at Blackburn felt worse in many ways than Arsenal as the same problems persisted even against a side sitting 16th in the Championship. Confidence is lacking and the side's shape and organisation seem to have disappeared.

While Howe admitted to his side suffering a 'hangover' from the Arsenal game at Ewood Park, he felt there were some elements his side improved on.

"I thought generally our attitude was much better," he told The Gazette. "We were fighting, we were giving everything.

"We weren't perfect in our performance but our spirit was there and our spirit has been there, since I've been here, bar two games and it has to be there in every game. We spoke honestly after the Arsenal game and our performance probably, there was a hangover [from the Arsenal game] whether that be a little dent in our confidence but hopefully that will be back for the next game."

Next up for Newcastle is Wolverhampton Wanderers at home in the Premier League. Wolves sit one place and one point above The Magpies in the table.  

Martin Dubravka saves Newcastle United's season

With Newcastle floundering in the Premier League, the FA Cup is the one big ray of hope in their otherwise gloomy second half of the campaign. Thanks to Martin Dubravka, the side are now just 90 minutes away from a Wembley return.

Anything that happens in the league from here on out will be forgiven and forgotten if Newcastle can win the FA Cup for the first time since 1955. It's still a long way off, but while they are still in the hat, there is at least some hope.

Dubravka's multiple saves in normal time plus the two in the shootout have kept Newcastle's chances of doing something this season alive, even if they did it in the least convincing way possible.

The goalkeeper's season-saving efforts were made all the more impressive by the fact he suffered badly with an illness over the weekend, keeping him out of the Arsenal match.

And Howe admitted it wasn't certain Dubravka would even make the game at Ewood Park.

"Yeah it was [touch and go], it wasn't clear," he told The Gazette. "He was nowhere near fit for the weekend against Arsenal so he hasn't been 100% for quite a long period of time and has been playing slightly ill and he deserves huge credit for doing that." 

Sandro Tonali 'spotted' in the away end at Ewood Park

While Sandro Tonali wasn't part of the 7,432 travelling Newcastle fans at Ewood Park, his presence was felt in the away end as one supporter was spotted filming the full-time scenes while on a FaceTime call with the Italian midfielder.

The call was captured by TheVocalHero, who posted the image on X.

Tonali is currently serving a 10-month betting ban which doesn't end until August. However, he remains under investigation by the Football Association which could see him handed a further punishment.

Where was Newcastle United's team photo?

After every win since Eddie Howe took charge as head coach of Newcastle, the side have posted a celebratory team photo often taken in the dressing room after the game.

Whether scraping through on penalties against a Championship side constitutes as 'a win' is up for debate and Newcastle's official X account refrained from posting such an image on social media after the match given the potential backlash.

But a dressing room photo was still taken at Ewood Park and was posted by Newcastle United's official 'Arabic-language' X account after the match.

The photos have become a tradition and even a superstition at this point and the side previously took a dressing room photo after beating Crystal Palace on penalties in the Carabao Cup, so such victories are not immune to Serena Taylor's camera. Now they must follow it up with another at St James' Park against Wolves this weekend.