NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United reached a second League Cup final in three seasons as they overwhelmed Arsenal 2-0 at a feverish St James’ Park on Wednesday to complete a crushing 4-0 aggregate win.

Moments after Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard wasted a chance to halve the deficit, Jacob Murphy tucked away a rebound in the 19th minute after Alexander Isak’s shot hit the woodwork.

Arsenal, surprisingly beaten 2-0 at home in the first leg, suffered another off-night and their fate was sealed when Anthony Gordon punished a defensive error in the 52nd minute to put the hosts in cruise control.

Eddie Howe’s Newcastle, who have not won a major trophy since 1955, will play either Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur in the Wembley final next month when they hope to go one better than 2023 when they lost in the final to Manchester United.

Howe said his side executed his game plan to perfection as their intense pressing smothered Arsenal from the start and forced the likes of Gabriel, William Saliba and Declan Rice into a series of uncharacteristic mistakes.

“We wanted to get pressure on them [William Saliba and Gabriel] and in order to do that we had to get bodies in the right areas and press high — that is how we decided to do it,” Howe told Sky Sports. “We were playing against elite players and one mistake can make things difficult. We had to be ourselves, be front foot.”

The Magpies boss vowed his side would learn from the pain of their last visit to Wembley.

“It is huge [to get back to Wembley],” Howe said. “The first appearance there was a bit unexpected, but the club we want to be we have to be there regularly, so it’s not a surprise. We are there on merit, our run has not been easy this year, we’ve faced four Premier League teams, so we have done the hard yards. Hopefully we can learn from the last experience and improve our performance.”

While Howe and company can look forward to the final, Arsenal were brought down to earth with a bump after Sunday’s 5-1 rout of Manchester City.

That swaggering performance kept alive Arsenal’s hopes of catching Premier League leaders Liverpool, who are six points clear of the Gunners with a game in hand.

But just four days later, Arsenal — already eliminated from the FA Cup — found another potential route to silverware curtailed on Tyneside. “We had momentum in the first half and didn’t capitalise. They scored immediately after and the momentum shifts,” manager Mikel Arteta said. “We needed a goal early in the second half and we didn’t get that and the opportunity passes. They have been more efficient than us in the boxes and that is the difference in the tie.”

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2025