EFL CUP: Hull City 1 Newcastle United 1 (AET) (Hull won 3-1 on penalties)

Having drawn 1-1 with Hull City in their EFL Cup quarter-final, the Magpies managed to miss three of their four penalties as they slumped to yet another shoot-out defeat.

Jonjo Shelvey and Yoan Gouffran saw their efforts saved, with Dwight Gayle smacking his against the crossbar. Christian Atsu was the only Newcastle player to find the target, and with Matz Sels failing to keep out any of Hull’s efforts, a night that promised much ended in intense disappointment.

Hull City goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic saves from Newcastle United's Jonjo Shelvey. Photo: PA

Newcastle have now lost nine of their ten competitive penalty shoot-outs, with their only success having come against Watford in 2006. They have still only reached the last four of the League Cup once in their history, and left Humberside last night cursing a huge missed opportunity.

Playing against ten men for the whole of extra-time following the late dismissal of Dieumerci Mbokani, the Magpies were unable to make their numerical superiority count. They took the lead in the first period of extra-time when Mo Diame slid home from close range, but were pegged back within a minute as some weak goalkeeping from Sels enabled Robert Snodgrass to equalise.

Cue the need for spot-kicks, and having watched his Liverpool side claim the Champions League courtesy of a shoot-out success in 2005, Benitez must have been aghast as he watched his current players produce a succession of awful efforts.

So much for a new-found love for the cups then. Things might have changed since Lee Charnley was publicly admitting the cup competitions were “not a priority” for the Magpies, but despite Benitez having tailored his weekend team selection to ensure he could name as strong a side as possible last night, the end result was the same. The seemingly endless wait for silverware goes on.

Hull boss Mike Phelan also named something close to his first-choice line-up, so perhaps it was no surprise that what unfolded was a cagey affair.

Hull’s main policy seemed to be the long ball to Mbokani, the physically-imposing frontman who tortured Newcastle at Carrow Road in April in the game that did so much to hasten the Magpies’ relegation.

Chancel Mbemba and Steven Taylor were the visiting centre-halves on that occasion though, and in Lascelles and Ciaran Clark, Newcastle now boast a much more resilient pairing at the heart of their back four. Mbokani saw plenty of the ball last night, but never really looked like having a telling impact even prior to his dismissal.

Instead, it was Newcastle making the vast majority of the running, with the visitors creating five decent opportunities within the opening half-hour. Only one of the chances was gilt-edged, but together they underlined the extent of United’s first-half dominance.

Gayle forced the first save from Hull goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic, galloping on to Shelvey’s through ball before drilling in a fierce low shot, and Diame also threatened with a 14th-minute effort that whistled past the post.

Diame joined Newcastle in a £4.5m summer move from Hull and, by his own admission, the midfielder has not really got going in a black-and-white shirt.

He should have opened the scoring midway through the first half, but when Vurnon Anita delivered an inviting cross from the right, he headed over from the edge of the six-yard box.

Matt Ritchie also failed to find the target with a 22-yard effort shortly after, and with the Scotsman combining effectively with Anita down the right, Newcastle were much the more threatening of the two sides.

The intensity of their play was characterised by the thumping 34th-minute tackle that enabled Isaac Hayden to win the ball from former Sunderland midfielder David Meyler, before advancing to drill a low shot wide.

Hull, on the other hand, were on the back foot for much of the evening, with their only first-half effort coming courtesy of a Snodgrass shot that drifted harmlessly wide of Sels’ right-hand post.

That said, however, it was a worry that Newcastle’s dominance was going unrewarded. Some of that was down to a failure to thread a telling ball behind Hull’s backline, but the lack of a breakthrough was also testament to the quality of the home side’s defending, with long-time Middlesbrough target Harry Maguire especially impressive.

A second-half interception that prevented Ritchie’s through ball from reaching Shelvey in the area was especially well-timed, although Lascelles was equally as effective at the other end shortly after as he blocked a goal-bound shot from Meyler.

The fact that Lascelles was required to make such an important intervention was telling, with Hull much more prominent as an attacking force after the interval.

Snodgrass curled a free-kick narrowly over, and Sels had to be extremely alert as he raced from his line to smother the ball as Snodgrass attempted to release Andy Robertson into the area.

Newcastle’s second-half attacking was much more fitful than had been the case before the break, with Shelvey enjoying markedly less time and space on the ball.

The game looked to be heading towards the end of normal time without incident, but tempers boiled over close to the touchline in the 89th minute, resulting in Hull being reduced to ten men.

Lascelles took exception to a foul from Mbokani and argued with the striker. That seemed to infuriate Mbokani, and the Congolese striker leant his head into Lascelles in an aggressive fashion. It wasn’t a full-on head-butt, but on the ground that once saw Alan Pardew indulge in a similar act when facing Meyler, it was more than sufficient to justify a straight red card.

With a man advantage, Newcastle were the dominant force from the opening minute of extra-time, and they came within inches of breaking the deadlock as Lazaar drilled a rising drive against the crossbar after a lay-off from Gouffran.

Sixty seconds later, and the deadlock was broken. Gayle flicked on Anita’s cross from the right-hand side, and Diame slid inside the six-yard box to stab the ball home.

The former Tigers player refused to celebrate, and within less a minute, the rest of his Newcastle team-mates were looking equally stony-faced.

Hull substitute Markus Henriksen drilled in a shot that Sels could only weakly parry, and Snodgrass reacted quickest to slide home the rebound. Having waited more than an hour-and-a-half to claim the lead, the Magpies had ceded it within a minute.

Gayle wasted two decent chances to re-establish Newcastle’s lead, while Snodgrass should have won it for Hull, only to fail to sort his feet out after he was released into the box.

Ultimately, however, the Scotsman’s profligacy did not prove costly. Newcastle’s wastefulness from the penalty spot was much more decisive.