Newcastle's Sammy Ameobi scored a sensational extra-time goal as they saw off a tireless Scunthorpe.
Extra-time winner secures Carling Cup victory
Newcastle's Sammy Ameobi scored a sensational extra-time goal as they saw off a tireless Scunthorpe.
Ameobi, the younger brother of Magpies forward Shola, came on as a substitute and went on a supeb individual run before unleashing an unstoppable effort with just minutes of extra-time to go.
Before then Scunthorpe had harrassed and pressured the Premier League outfit, getting their reward in the shape of Chris Dagnall who finished off a tidy move with a well-placed volley in the 15th minute.
The League One side had Newcastle on the ropes for large spells of the game, however could do nothing about Ryan Taylor's wonderful free-kick in the second half.
Tim Krul kept the visitors in it several times as Dagnall and Bobby Grant continued to pressure before being taken off.
The game looked to be heading to penalties at Glanford Park in what was a fantastic game of football, however Ameobi struck to kill off a resilient Iron side.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew had targeted cup success during the week, making six changes to the side which beat Sunderland 1-0 in the North East derby as Mike Williamson came in for Steven Taylor.
The Magpies had to consider life without Joey Barton after the midfield talisman had a medical with QPR and looks set to sign for Neil Warnock's men.
And without Barton, many times Newcastle failed to get to grips with their hosts in a first half when they could have been more than a goal behind.
Deserved opener
Dagnall was looking lively and flashed an early strike wide of the post before he netted for a deserved opener.
The diminutive striker broke free of his marker to latch on to Michael Nelson's flicked on header and he guided the ball past Krul as Demba Ba played Dagnall on-side.
Newcastle's first shot did not arrive until the 22nd minute when Ryan Taylor placed his free-kick over the bar in what was a decent spell for the visitors.
Peter Lovenkrands and Yohan Cabaye tried their luck from distance, but they nearly found themselves 2-0 down and had to rely on the expert hands of Krul who denied Jimmy Ryan who was unmarked following Dagnall's cut back.
The Magpies were dealt another blow just before the break when Williamson limped off with a leg injury and was replaced by Steven Taylor. He is expected to have a scan on the ankle in the morning.
Newcastle then completely dominated the second-half but spurned chance after chance with Best and Peter Lovenkrands the guilty culprits.
Lovenkrands saw his tame shot blocked by Josh Lillis who was off his line in a flash before Best then had a goal ruled out for offside and Lovenkrands shot over.
Dagnall then forced Krul into a hurried stop as the pressure mounted on the Premier League side.
Smart save
Best then lashed another good chance over the bar as Krul again had to keep his side in the game with another smart save from Dagnall.
Dagnall's header looked destined for the net when it deflected off Fabricio Coloccini at close quarters but the Dutchman somehow clawed it away.
Ryan Taylor then equalised 10 minutes from the end with his second memorable free-kick in as many games as he curled it past Lillis.
Taylor was later denied a penalty after being brought down as extra-time was looming for the pair of Uniteds.
Steven Taylor had to get back on his line to head away a 35-yard Mark Duffy shot, while Krul made another spectacular save to keep out Ryan's long-range effort.
The match looked destined for penalties when Best somehow failed to get the final touch before Ameobi opened his Newcastle scoring account in fine style.
