In a Premier League context only Aston Villa have scored fewer times than Newcastle this season but the Carabao Cup is a different beast and it offered the holders a distinctly therapeutic evening. It was not quite raining goals for Eddie Howe’s side but two apiece from Joelinton and Will Osula at least showed they remembered how to score, on a night when Bruno Guimarães excelled in midfield.
Granted, Graham Alexander’s Bradford belong to the third tier but the League One leaders proved competitive and well-organised opponents who thoroughly deserved their own consolation goal, registered, evocatively, by their Newcastle-supporting No 9, Andy Cook.
