Newcastle United secured their spot in the quarter-final of the EFL Cup on Tuesday night.
Newcastle United’s Aleksandar Mitrovic scores their fourth goal
Newcastle striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has admitted he was wrong when he tried to take his side’s penalty kick during their 6-0 EFL Cup win over Preston North-End on Tuesday night, even though Matt Ritchie was pencilled in as the designated spot-kick taker, as quoted by the Mirror.
The Serbian striker has made just one Championship start for the Magpies so far this season, but played the entire 90 minutes for his side in their convincing league cup win over Preston, scoring two goals.
The 22-year-old begged Ritchie to allow him to take the penalty on Tuesday, which the Scotland international eventually scored, but later admitted that his behaviour was out of line, as quoted by the Mirror:
Newcastle United’s Aleksandar Mitrovic scores their first goal
“Matt was down to take it first. I asked him if I could try to score. It was nothing. It was Matt’s. But I just fancied my chance. He scored a good penalty. As long as we are scoring goals it doesn’t matter who scores. I wanted the penalty because I want to score as many as I can. This is my job and I didn’t play at the beginning for a long time.”
Newcastle United’s Aleksandar Mitrovic gestures to their fans
Rafa Benitez’ summer transfer activity ensured that he now has a plethora of options in forward areas at his disposal, and Mitrovic’s opportunities for regular first-team football have been limited because of this.
After his brace on Tuesday though, the Serbian will be hoping for an extended run in Benitez’ side as Newcastle look to build on their three point lead at the top of the table.
Newcastle United’s Matt Ritchie celebrates scoring their third goal from the penalty spot with Aleksandar Mitrovic
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