Newcastle's first Carabao Cup visit to the capital since their 2025 Wembley success saw them head south of the river on Tuesday night, breaking new ground in South East London in the process.

No Magpies side has ventured here since Kevin Keegan's team registered a well-remembered 2-1 win in 1993 that left them within touching distance of promotion. Recollections of that April day are as much about the events off the field as on it, but the 2026 reality here is somewhat different.

That final excursion to the Old Den came less than a month before the doors closed for the final time, replaced by tonight's venue; now of sufficient longevity for the "new" prefix to have been dropped.

A long-awaited debut at this Den saw a host of old faces in the away section - including one London Mag who had been at Newcastle's 1957 Cup loss up the road at Cold Blow Lane. 

That turnout and the unfamiliarity of the surroundings gave tonight the air of a European night, with the scale of the stadium more in keeping with continental rather than domestic venues. The crowd size and capacity both mirrored that last season's Champions League tie against Union SG in Brussels.
 
Although less threatening than their former home was, the changing face of football means that this place is a window into what once was the norm; football, warts and all, a blue collar pursuit.

Even that "old school" demeanour is under threat here though; some locals labelling tonight's atmosphere the sound of "pure" Millwall despite failing to sell out, because the increasing numbers of international football tourists and the overspill from local hipster beer parlours were absent.

To the game and a second successive cup victory over Championship opposition for Matthias Jaissle's side was rather less impressive than the conquest of West Bromwich Albion. That's due in no small part to an injury-riddled Lions squad that saw a patched-up side fielded and two teenagers debut from the bench - 15 year-old Regan Monty Anderson the second-youngest Millwall player ever.

The night ended with a place in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup - although the manner of United's victory won't linger long in the memory; nine minutes of normal time left when Joe Willock made the breakthrough, beating Gateshead old boy and debutant Lions goalkeeper Filip Marschall.

Millwall had just enjoyed their best moment at the other end before that goal: substitute Tairyk Arconte winning a foot race with Tino Livramento into the Newcastle box, only for his strong shot to rebound back off the post and hit Lukas Hornicek's foot before running harmlessly away.

Within seconds that miss became even more costly; a series of passes beginning in his own half with Nico Gonzalez and including Lewis Hall, substitute Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Harvey Barnes, ending with Joe Willock turning home birthday boy Hall's low centre.

A strong visiting line-up was captained by Yoane Wissa, injury to Ewen Jaouen seeing Hornicek continue along with seven others from the side that drew with Bournemouth - Malick Thiaw, Lewis Miley and Anthony Elanga benched as starts went to Schar, Jacob Ramsey and Jacob Murphy.

Despite that though, the Premier League side struggled to test their depleted hosts. Two first half chances fell to Willock, one shot blocked and one dragged wide, while central defensive duo Sven Botman and Schar also had efforts that went harmlessly wide for a side stuck in a low tempo.

At the other end, Scotland international forward Lyndon Dykes showed little and the best chance of the opening period saw defender Caleb Taylor meet a tempting free kick with a misplaced header. 

The hosts sought to exploit the absence of VAR from this stage of the competition, blatantly holding opponents as corners were taken - Fabian Schar dragged over several times without censure. The poorness of United's set piece executions hardly warranted them gaining any advantage however.

In addition to the positive outcome, given how pre-season unfolded, this opportunity to play another match like the Baggies tie was invaluable but the fact we took it seriously meant that it wasn't a public training session for the likes of Aladji Bamba and Bazoumana Toure.

The lack of a Premier League fixture until Monday may have minimised the risk of utilising senior players, but the current prominence of Willock and Murphy is surely as much due to the form and fitness of others (Toure, Will Osula, Fernandez-Pardo) as their own contributions.

Strikers may not be striking and defenders not wingers are providing assists, but the ball is still finding the opposition net while the manager's vision of an energetic press remains largely theoretical.

Biffa