Newcastle United booked their place in the third round of the Carabao Cup away to Tranmere Rovers - but only after a scare from the basement division side. The lower league side had the audacity to take the lead at Prenton Park but Newcastle fought back through goals from Jamaal Lascelles and Chris Wood before safely booking their place in the next stage.
Howe made 10 changes to his side for the Carabao Cup clash on the Wirral with Joe Willock the only survivor from the starting line-up that drew 3-3 with Manchester City in the Premier League encounter at the weekend. The Toon boss went with his tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation and opposing boss Micky Mellon started with a 4-2-3-1 system to try to quell the top flight side.
The first chance of the game fell for Newcastle as Jacob Murphy got free down the left and prodded towards goal but former Everton stopper Mateusz Hewlet gathered comfortably. Murphy got another glimpse of goal after 11 minutes but scooped it over the bar with the Polish keeper not troubled by the effort.
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Three minutes later Emil Krafth crossed into the box for Murphy but his weak header was half-cleared, Elliot Anderson then won a corner after retrieving the ball but it came to nothing. With 16 minutes played Anderson dragged the ball back before hitting a shot wide of the post as Tranmere held firm.
Newcastle were undone with a swift Tranmere move on 21 minutes as three Rovers players got in behind the Toon defence. Josh Dacres-Cogley steamed down the right-hand side before crossing for Elliott Nevitt who lashed it home inside the box to beat Karl Darlow.
It was a slick six-pass move that had both Sean Longstaff and skipper Jamaal Lascelles chasing back. The pair couldn't do anything to stop Nevitt from applying the finish but it was the former Birmingham defender Dacres-Cogley who started the move and then provided a perfect ball into the box.
United were forced to play with 10 men for a spell after Lascelles suffered what looked like a broken nose and needed to change shirt. Newcastle were dealt an injury blow when Emil Kratfh was carried off on a stretcher after coming out second best after a challenge with what looked like a knee injury.
Krafth was replaced by Kieran Trippier who helped set up the equaliser when he swung in a corner from the right. The ball was met by Lascelles who headed at goal with the ball half-cleared but only straight back to the skipper who steered home on the rebound on 40 minutes.
The half ended in controversy after Kane Hemmings' 50-50 challenge on Darlow with the Tranmere star only picking up a booking. Had VAR been in operation it would have been a red card for the former Dundee player with Newcastle players rightly furious about the challenge.
Replays showed an awful studs-up challenge on the Toon stopper who went down in a heap. The interval saw United replace Matt Targett with Northern Ireland international Jamal Lewis making his first appearance since December away to Liverpool last year before he suffered a groin injury.
With 53 minutes on the clock, Newcastle took the lead for the first time with Chris Wood's first big contribution of the night. Wood had gone through the opening half without managing a shot but that all changed when Trippier's precise corner found the New Zealand international who flicked home a header to send the travelling fans wild in the Cow Shed after finding himself unmarked in the six-yard box.
A Wood flick on after 60 minutes picked out Willock but after taking a touch and preparing to shoot he was dispossessed at the crucial moment. Moments later another Trippier corner found Anderson but he sent his first-time shot wide of the target.
Tranmere piled on the pressure late on and did not roll over as the home crowd roared them on. A header from substitute Sven Botman was tipped over by the goalkeeper with fou minutes to go as Newcastle looked to add gloss to the scoreline.
However, they had to settle for a 2-1 win in the end with Tranmere making a good fist of things and Newcastle showing their Premier League quality. The two sides walked off the field to Local Hero after a classy gesture from the home club on a night in which both fans served up a raucous atmosphere and decibel levels reaching over 100 decibels.
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