In 2017, Newcastle United were embarrassed by Oxford United in the FA Cup.
Over the past few seasons, there have definitely been some disappointing and downright embarrassing losses for Newcastle United. The first match that comes to mind was the NUFC exit from the 2017 FA Cup. On January 28th, 2017, Newcastle United were bounced from the tournament’s fourth round by Oxford United, who they will meet again this weekend.
During the 2016-17 season, Newcastle United were playing in the Championship after their relegation the year before. Around the turn of the year, they were battling to secure an automatic promotion position. Newcastle played to a draw in their first FA Cup match of the season with Birmingham City, which frustrated fans as they were hoping the club would exit the tournament to focus on league play. They would get past Birmingham in the replay to set up the match vs. Oxford United.
At the time of the match, Oxford United sat 14th on the League One table. They beat Rotherham 3-2 in the FA Cup third round and hosted Newcastle in the fourth round. On that day, they handled the Magpies, with Oxford newly promoted from League Two and Rafa Benitez’s side one year removed from playing in the Premier League.
Oxford United finished with more shots than the Magpies and scored three goals in the second half. Aleksandar Mitrovic had a terrible day at the office as he had two shots denied at close range. The final straw for the Serbian striker was having a penalty saved in the second half after earning the foul himself.
The loss allowed Newcastle to focus on Championship play as they went on to win the title, but it was still an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to a League One side to end another FA Cup run. The two clubs have met 13 total times with Oxford winning seven and losing six. Newcastle United will look for some get back when the clubs play this weekend.