A lesser-known Fifa rule reared its head in Newcastle’s EFL Cup defeat

Newcastle United missed a golden opportunity to reach the semi-finals of the EFL Cup when they lost on penalties to 10-man Hull City at the KCOM Stadium.

Former Hull man Mohamed Diamé gave the visitors an extra-time lead after Dieumerci Mbokani's red card had given Rafa Benitez's team a man advantage. But Robert Snodgrass fired home a quickfire equaliser and Swiss goalkeeper Eldin Jakupović saved from Jonjo Shelvey and Yoan Gouffran in a 3-1 shoot-out win for Mike Phelan's team. https://twitter.com/EFLCup/status/803726463795101696 And eagle-eyed viewers spotted a bit of confusion as the two teams prepared to take their spot-kicks, with a short delay culminating in Newcastle substitute DeAndre Yedlin being pulled aside. And it transpired the reason for the American's withdrawal was a lesser-seen rule, described here in Fifa's refereeing laws.

'When a team finishes the match with a greater number of players than their opponents, they shall reduce their numbers to equate with that of their opponents and inform the referee of the name and number of each player excluded.'

Newcastle fans were none too happy with the measures, especially as some had wanted the former Tottenham man to take one of their spot-kicks. https://twitter.com/TheCajman/status/803725025819799552 https://twitter.com/place77/status/803724447890935808 https://twitter.com/TheMackemSlayer/status/803724243418509312 Not all of the fans, mind you. https://twitter.com/Lavanglish/status/803724373592936448 The rule is rarely relevant, as the team with a man advantage often wins the game without requiring penalties, but it has happened before in English domestic competition. That came in January 2015, when Everton's Aiden McGeady was sent off in an FA Cup replay against West Ham United. Hammers centre-back James Tomkins was the one man not to take a penalty on that occasion, and the shoot-out went right to the wire with goalkeeper Adrián scoring the winning penalty after his opposite number Joel hit the woodwork. Hull didn't need quite as many penalties to secure victory, but their goalkeeper was the hero of the hour. They have been joined in the last four by Liverpool, who beat Leeds United 2-0, while two of Manchester United, West Ham, Arsenal and Southampton will also take part in the semi-finals. Catch up with this week's episode of Football Friday Live