Match Report: Morecambe 0 Newcastle United 2

It was a case of brothers in arms for Newcastle on Wednesday night as goals from Shola and Sammy Ameobi saw off Morecambe as the Magpies edged through to the next round of the League Cup.

The opener came in the 84th minute, when substitute Hatem Ben Arfa found Shola Ameobi, whose shot took a fortunate deflection before nestling in the corner of the net.

And deep into stoppage time, United put a lid on the result.

Ben Arfa was once again the creator with an arrowed pass from deep that found Sammy Ameobi, who danced through two defenders before dinking the ball home.

The win was Newcastle’s first of the season, but their League Two opponents made them work hard for the victory, especially in the first half.

The visitors had Dan Gosling to thank for keeping the scoreline blank before the break, as the midfielder cleared the ball off the line twice in the space of ten minutes to deny The Shrimps.

United keeper Rob Elliot was also kept busy in the opening 45 minutes, producing smart saves to deny Andrew Fleming and impressive Irishman Padraig Amond.

The introduction of Shola Ameobi at the break, however, swung the game in Newcastle’s favour, and it wasn’t long before the big striker was involved in attack.

A defence-splitting pass from Gosling in the 49th minute put the forward clean through, but the Nigerian international sent his effort over the bar.

He made up for his error, however, with his late goal before his little brother Sammy wrapped things up with just seconds remaining.

Alan Pardew’s men will now face Leeds United at St. James Park in the third round of the League Cup, with the tie scheduled to be played the week commencing September 23.

Newcastle line up

GK Rob Elliot

RB Mathieu Debuchy 

CB Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa

CB Curtis Good

LB Paul Dummett

RM Sylvain Marveaux (Moussa Sissoko, 88)

CM Dan Gosling

CM Gael Bigirimana

LM Sammy Ameobi

AM Haris Vuckic (Shola Ameobi, 46)

CF Yoan Gouffran (Hatem Ben Arfa, 71)