Newcastle United: 5 things we learned from the 3-1 win over Luton Town

Newcastle United earned a 3-1 victory over the Hatters of Luton Town in the FA Cup third round match at St. James’ Park on Saturday.

While Rafa Benitez stated that having success in the Premier League is more important than FA Cup success, the lineup he selected against Luton Town showed that Newcastle United aimed to avoid an upset.

The Magpies made life difficult for the EFL League Two leaders on Saturday by sealing the fate of the match in the first half by scoring three goals in the first 39 minutes of play. With that being said, here are 5 things we learned from the FA Cup third round victory on Saturday.

The Ayoze Perez Show

Ayoze Perez became the club’s leading goal-scorer this season with his two goals against Luton Town. With a total of four goals this season and three goals in the last two matches, Perez is enjoying great form.

The fact that Perez scored two tap-in goals from inside the penalty area shows that he has practiced the timing of his runs and his positioning, which are crucial skills that have been lacking from our strikers all season. Perez has entered the new year in impressive style and deserves to start against Swansea City next weekend.

Jonjo Shelvey

It is a difficult task to predict who will score for Newcastle United in any given match, but it was great to see Jonjo Shelvey score against Luton Town. The defensive midfielder has not lived up to expectations this season and has been criticized for his poor disciplinary record, but his goal received a loud applause from Newcastle supporters.

Shelvey and midfield partner, Mikel Merino, played with good composure in the first half and did a good job recovering the ball in scrappy moments of the game. With a crucial match against Swansea City up next on the schedule, it would be nice to see Shelvey and Merino maintain this level of intensity and energy to earn three more points to climb up the Premier League table.

Freddie Woodman Debut

The 20-year-old goalkeeper made his season debut against Luton Town as Rafa Benitez decided to leave Karl Darlow on the bench for this FA Cup match. Freddie Woodman put in a decent performance between the posts, but the match served as a learning curve for the youngster.

Woodman let his nerves and emotions get the best of him at times and he should have handled some passes from his defenders more comfortably, but at the end of the day the Magpies advanced to the fourth round of the FA Cup with Woodman in goal. It is evident that Woodman needs more first team minutes to polish some of his flaws. However, with Rob Elliot and Karl Darlow playing so well, Woodman will find it even more difficult to earn minutes.

Poor Second Half

It was a tale of two halves at St. James’ Park as the Magpies dominated the first half by scoring three goals, but displayed a mediocre performance in the second half. Luton Town gained some momentum after halftime as the Hatters scored on Freddie Woodman twice, only to have one of those goals called back for offside.

Newcastle United cannot repeat the same second half mistakes when they take on Swansea City next Saturday. In order for the Magpies to claim a victory over the Swans at home, they need to revert back to their defensive tactics against Stoke City and mark the opposition closely.

Toon Army Attendance

Despite the opposition on Saturday playing their football in EFL League Two, the attendance at St. James’ Park was 47,069. It is worth mentioning that 7,500 of those individuals were away supporters, but the presence of approximately 39,000 Newcastle fans for this FA Cup match confirmed one thing – the Toon Army is the best 12th man in England.