Emile Smith Rowe had a red card overturned and scored in extra time to help holder Arsenal reach the fourth round of the FA Cup beating Newcastle 2-0 on Saturday.
The substitute was issued a red card by referee Chris Kavanagh for a tackle on Sean Longstaff at the end of the 90 minutes, but the card was downgraded to yellow on a VAR review.
“Obviously the incident wasn’t ideal and it definitely wasn’t intentional, so I’m happy to get the goal and go through to the next round,” Smith Rowe said.
It proved decisive, as he grabbed the opener in the 109th minute followed by captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang confirming the victory eight minutes later with a tap-in.
“We knew coming into the game how tough it was going to be and it was just about breaking them down, and we got there in the end," Smith Rowe told the BBC. “It just shows how together we are. We’ve been working to get closer as a group and it’s all starting to show on the pitch.”
Manchester United also entered the next round with a 1-0 victory over Watford. Scott McTominay, who wore the armband for the first time in his United career, scored an early goal in the first half which made the sole difference between the two sides.
