Newcastle United put things right against Wolverhampton Wanderers and advanced to the next round of the EFL Cup.
After losing to the Midlands team 2-0 on Saturday in the Championship, Rafa Benitez and his men executed an exact reversal to defeat their opponents by the same scoreline at St. James' Park in the cup.
Goals from Yoan Gouffran and Matt Ritchie were enough to sink the visiting side, who never really offered much of a threat to Karl Darlow in the Toon goal. The result will give Benitez some thinking to do, and goes some way to reaffirming the remarkable turnaround that Gouffran has managed this season.
Under ill-fated head coach Steve McClaren, the Frenchman was practically down and out, his deployment as a midfielder the low point of his Tyneside career; Benitez has reversed that, and Gouffran is nowone of Rafa's most important squad members.
The result also sets things up nicely for the game againstAston Villa, away from home, on Saturday and proves Newcastle have strength in depth. Achraf Lazaar and DeAndre Yedlin both made full debuts in defence and did well - their pace and attacking instincts will also be useful going down the flanks, should they be played there.
Grant Hanley hasn't had the best start to life at United, but a clean sheet will give him some confidence. Meanwhile, Darlow will continue to push Belgian stopper Matz Sels hard for the number one jersey.
These glut of good performanceswill give a lift of confidence to the players and fans going into the next round of fixtures: Newcastle were not supposed to lose at home to Wolves in the league and now, they have put things right.
It's not going to be an easy task to win the league and there will be ups and downs along the way - like the sort encountered last Saturday -but it's about how the team bounces back from those moments which will ultimately determine the difference between title winners and nearly men.
Benitez will be happy that his squad could put that loss behind them and concentrate on the job in hand - in addition,a good cup run will be great for the fans and will provide a great distraction for the players, too.