London: The Championship side secure their spot in the fourth round after getting the better of their Premier League opponents who were reduced to 10-men after Shola Ameobi’s red card.
Brighton secured their spot in the FA Cup fourth round after beating Newcastle United 2-0, thanks to a goal in either half from Andrea Orlandi and Will Hoskins.
Gus Poyet named a strong looking line-up for the third round tie at the Amex Stadium - with on loan Manchester City man Wayne Bridge starting at left-back and highly-rated Craig Mackail-Smith leading the line up front.
As for the visitors, Alan Pardew made five changes from the team which lost 2-1 at home to Everton earlier in the week - with key men Fabricio Coloccini and Papiss Cisse missing out through injury.
The hosts started brighter than their Premier League opponents and came close to breaking the deadlock in the eighth minute when David Lopez got forward well and delivered a cross which was met by the head of Gary Dicker whose effort went dangerously across the face of goal only to be headed to safety by James Perch.
Former Valencia man Lopez continued to cause problems as he pushed forward from his right-back berth, and forced Rob Elliot into a smart save after drilling in another cross with Mackail-Smith ready to pounce.
It took until the mid-way point in the first half for the Magpies to get going and a smart move ended in Mehdi Abeid stinging the gloves of Casper Ankergren in the hosts goal.
The opening goal arrived in the 33rd minute. Gordon Greer played a diagonal ball which Bridge did well to reach before picking out Orlandi in the middle of the box. The chance looked to have got away from the ex-Swansea midfielder but he turned well and hit a firm shot past Elliot.
Falling behind failed to spark Newcastle into life and they continued to struggle to get going, and it was the home side who looked the most threatening and went into the half-time break holding their one-goal advantage.
Magpies boss Pardew made a double change for the start of the second half - bringing on Paul Dummett and Nile Ranger in place of Perch and Abeid as he searched for a way back into the tie.
However, their opponents continued to look the most likely to strike again - with Orlandi firing over from just outside the box as he looked to double his goal tally.
Ex-Newcastle man Kazenga LuaLua arrived off the bench on the hour mark to warm applause from both sets of fans as a replacement for goalscoring hero Orlandi.
Things went from bad to worse for Newcastle in the 63rd minute after they were reduced to 10-men when captain for the day Shola Ameobi was given his second yellow card for a late tackle on Lopez.
Despite playing with a man less Newcastle still posed a threat going forward and almost equalised in the 75th minute. The ball broke loose to Sylvain Marveaux who fired in a powerful effort which Liam Bridcutt did superbly to block.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 87th minute after Hoskins got on the end of a through ball and steadied himself before calmly slotting the ball past Elliot, to seal an early FA Cup shock and pile more misery on Pardew`s men.
Goal.Com
First Published: Sunday, January 06, 2013, 09:38