SINGING IN TOON
Newcastle 2 Arsenal 0 (agg: 4-0): Toon tear shambolic Gunners to shreds to move step closer to first trophy in 70 years
Scroll down to see the stats from tonight's match
THERE were plenty of old-aged pensioners among this raucous St James’ Park crowd who have never seen Newcastle United win a major domestic trophy.
But on March 16, Eddie Howe’s men have a chance to secure the kind of glory the Geordies have been waiting 70 years to experience.
10
10
Arsenal arrived on Tyneside with the strut of a team who had just trounced the Premier League champions - but they were blown away by the energy levels of Newcastle’s players and the decibel levels of their supporters.
Next month, the Toon will face either Tottenham or Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Final - the club’s sixth Wembley showpiece since Jackie Milburn & Co won the FA Cup way back in 1955.
Goals from Jacob Murphy and the electric Anthony Gordon ensured there would be no miracle comeback from Mikel Arteta’s side, who trailed 2-0 from the first leg a month ago.
No English club of Newcastle’s size has waited so long to win silverware - especially as Uefa now say that their 1969 Fairs Cup win doesn’t count as a major trophy in their record books.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
And while the club’s Geordie Arabia revolution has been stifled by Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules, a trophy would mean the world to the Toon Army.
Newcastle reached the League Cup Final two seasons ago but they froze on their big day out and were beaten 2-0 by Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United.
Seven of last night’s starting line-up featured in that 2023 final and they will return determined not to suffer stage fright again.
For Mikel Arteta, it was a miserable night which leaves the Gunners facing an uphill battle to avoid a fifth successive season without a trophy.
Most read in Football
The Gunners boss was mocked with chants of ‘Mikel Arteta, it must be the ball’ after his rather fanciful excuse for the 2-0 home defeat in last month’s first leg.
Arsenal failed to carry forward any momentum from Sunday’s 5-1 sploshing of Manchester City.
Newcastle stars Sandro Tonali and Sven Botman filmed using mobile phones behind wheels of supercars
Perhaps they expended too much energy in rubbing Erling Haaland’s nose in the Emirates dirt because this was a very flat performance - save for Martin Odegaard hitting the post after an early effort from Newcastle’s Alexander Isak had been disallowed.
While Arteta stuck with Sunday’s victorious line-up, Howe switched to a back five - not that his side were ever content to sit back and protect the 2-0 first-leg lead they had secured back in the mists of time.
Since then, Newcastle had suffered back-to-back home defeats, giving Arsenal renewed hope of becoming the first team ever to overturn a two-goal deficit away from home in a League Cup semi-final.
The Arsenal mood music had improved considerably during the month-long wait for this return leg and they arrived on a four-game winning streak in all competitions.
10
10
But none of that optimism from the visitors lasted long.
It was one of those nights at St James’ Park when the flags were out, the locals were giddy and the amplifier was cranked up to 11.
And within four minutes, the Toon thought they had increased their aggregate lead.
Gordon picked a delicious through-ball to send Isak pelting through on goal and the Swede lashed his effort into the far corner of David Raya’s net.
10
10
But then the dreaded, and lengthy, VAR delay which found that Isak had been narrowly offside.
In these semi-finals, they are trialling a system whereby the referees announce any VAR overturns through a microphone to the crowd.
And from what I could gather, Simon Hooper told the 52,000 punters: “Bwh dada hagy terg dikit number 14, badadadag.”
Joelinton had missed out with a knee injury but despite a Newcastle shape that looked defensive on paper, Howe’s side were not backwards in coming forwards.
10
10
Still, Arsenal settled, knitted together a couple of decent passing moves and Martin Odegaard drilled a shot against the post when he ought to have scored.
Yet almost immediately, Newcastle broke.
Isak played a one-two with Gordon, descended on goal again and hammered the top of the far post before Murphy lapped up the rebound to spark rapture across the Geordie nation.
The place was rocking now and you could tell the hosts were confident when Bruno Guimaraes started performing keepy-uppies on the edge of the Arsenal box.
10
10
Gabriel Martinelli suffered a hamstring injury and was replaced by the boy wonder Ethan Nwaneri.
But there was precious little sign of an Arsenal comeback and as their frustrations grew, Kai Havertz was cautioned for a shove on Kieran Trippier, then Wiliam Saliba joined him in the book for dragging back Gordon.
Flash Gordon then toasted Declan Rice, who appeared to pull a muscle as he fell, before he fired narrowly wide.
Straight after the restart, Saliba was robbed by Gordon who narrowly failed to score from range with Raya stranded.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
But soon, it was all done and dusted, with Rice - apparently still troubled by his first-half injury - mugged by a high-pressing Fabian Schar, allowing Gordon an easy finish.
And so the Geordie hordes will descend on Wembley, determined to end seven decades of hurt.
Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club.
Topics