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That’s all for tonight. Congratulations to Newcastle, commiserations to Arsenal. We’ll be back tomorrow to find out who Newcastle will be playing at Wembley – see you then.
More from Eddie Howe
We worked a lot on set-plays this week because we knew Arsenal’s threat was so high. In the first leg we got lucky a couple of times and that influenced our team selection – we needed the height of Sven [Botman], Dan [Burn] and Fabian [Schar], especially as we were without Joelinton.
Jason Tindall and the analysts deserve a lot of credit. They put a lot of work into set-pieces and we defended them really well today.
[Did you send your players out to niggle them?] We’re always competitive. You have to be. You have to go up against your direct opponent and you have to be in their face. It wasn’t necessarily a direct order to be aggressive but we have to stand our ground, we have to win our battles. If that means a physical confrontation then, yeah, we back ourselves to mix it with them.
It’s huge. The first Wembley was brilliant, a bit unexpected, but we need to be there regularly. We need to feel like we’re there on merit, it’s not a surprise. I think we are there on merit this year. Our run hasn’t been easy. Look at who we’ve had to face – I think it’s four Premier League teams. We’ve done the hard yards and we’ve now got an opportunity. Hopefully we can learn from the last one and improve our performance. You have to learn from disappointing experiences and there are definitely things we can learn.
Since I’ve been here the fans have been absolutely magnificent and I’m so pleased they get another trip to Wembley. I just hope for them we can get a trophy.
[Bruno Guimaraes said you were amazing today] Wow. [Turns to Guimaraes] What position did I play?!
It was a tough game. I thought tactically we were good. The intention was to be aggressive; I thought we put pressure on them early in the game which helped to solidify our plan. We had to retreat at times but I thought we were always in the game.
[When you decide to change formation?] The work started on Monday. The Champions League experience helped us because we got used to playing with really quick turnaround, two-day gameplans.
We do mould and tweak things depending on the opposition. Today we felt we needed more height in the team. We wanted real solidity at the back so we felt we had to change in order to win the game.
The players deserve credit because they followed the instructions to the letter. Fabian [Schar] had big distances to cover today. His job was to track Declan [Rice], whether he dropped low, went wide or stayed central. That’s not easy for a centre-half to do.
The three training sessions we had allowed us to repeat, repeat, repeat. And then the players have to execute.
Bruno Guimaraes talks to Sky Sports
Our fans made the difference tonight, they were unbelievable. The gaffer was very smart – everything he planned went perfectly. Here we go, another final for this club; hopefully we can win this one. It would be amazing.
[How did you feel before the game?] Anxious! It’s a big game; Arsenal are a top, top team. But when we play like that we can dream big things for this club.
[On the change of system] We did a lot of preparation by video. We played the same shape against Man Utd away from home, 5-4-1. So when the gaffer explained how he wanted to play, everyone was happy.
My job was to follow Partey everywhere. Fabian was jumping on Rice, which led to our second goal.
To get the first goal tonight was amazing. Now we can celebrate. Everyone in the city is very, very happy.
[On Alexander Isak] For me he’s the best striker around. Nobody is performing better than him. We are lucky to have him and I hope he can keep it going.
It would be a dream to lift a trophy and put my name in the club’s history. It would be amazing in my first season as captain. Hopefully we can do this.
[On Eddie Howe] He’s amazing. We could not have a better manager. Today he won the game before the match; our shape was perfect. He deserves all the credit.
Louise Taylor’s match report has dropped.
Anthony Gordon’s reaction
It feels amazing. It was a big game. We got off to a good start in the first leg but there was still a lot to do; they’re a top team. Everyone dug in and I thought it was a top team performance.
Our fans are never in question, especially on big occasions. They always turn up and make the game so difficult for the opposition. But it was important we controlled our emotions in the right way. There were a few little scraps and fights.
We had a gameplan which we thought would work. They play for a lot of second balls. We thought if we could beat them in that area then we could catch them out in behind, which we did a couple of times.
We always press, we try to make it difficult. Special mention for Dan Burn, Fabian Schar and Sven Botman because you don’t find many centre-backs happy to go and press on the opposition’s 18-yard line. All credit to them.
It’s important for us to stay humble now. We went on a really good fun and then we had two results that we didn’t see coming, so this was a good game to put back on track. We need to keep our heads down and focus what’s in front of us.
“We all know the traditional Newcastle Non-Performance is coming at Wembley in a few weeks (please see: Supermac v Lpool 1974, Wilson v ManU 2023),” says Chris Paraskevas. “But for now let’s all log out of our Instagram accounts, stop making life difficult for the NUFC Social Media moderators, park our PTSD from the A-League All Stars game and actually dream that the MIG (Murphy Isak Gordon) can send us home from Wembley’s T̶w̶i̶n̶ ̶T̶o̶w̶e̶r̶s̶ Built-In Shopping Centre as winners.”
Newcastle will play Liverpool or Tottenham in the Carabao Cup final on 16 March after a famous night at St James’ Park. Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon got the goals, Alexander Isak turned William Saliba’s legs to jelly – but really this was a triumph for the whole team and coaching staff.
Eddie Howe took the brave decision to switch to three centre-backs, knowing he would be slaughtered if it went wrong. Newcastle managed the game superbly, frustrating Arsenal throughout and picking them off on the break. By the end it felt like they weren’t just beating Arsenal, they were trolling them. But the occasional demonstration of the dark arts shouldn’t obscure an outstanding performance across both legs: Newcastle have hammered one of the best teams in Europe.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe and Bruno Guimaraes looks pleased with the result. Photograph: Scott Heppell/Reuters
90+2 min Schar is booked.
90+1 min: Newcastle substitution Lewis Miley replaces Bruno Guimaraes.
90+1 min Four minutes of added time.
90 min Rice’s corner is headed over from five yards by Lewis-Skelly, Arsenal’s best chance of the night.
89 min Lewis-Skelly combines nicely with Rice, whose shot from a tight angle is kicked away by the well positioned Dubravka.
88 min Trippier and Lewis-Skelly have words, at which point Rice comes across and shoves Trippier away. Newcastle have done the most emphatic number on Arsenal.
87 min: Double substitution Callum Wilson and Sean Longstaff replace Sandro Tonali, who was excellent, and Alexander Isak, who in patches was utterly magnificent.
86 min Okay, it wasn’t an accident. Moments later Rice wipes out Guimaraes with a really poor challenge and is booked; that wasn’t far from a red card. Guimaraes bounces to his feet and starts conducting the crowd.
Arsenal’s Declan Rice fells Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images/Reuters
Guimaraes rallies the fans. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
85 min Tonali is taken out off the ball by Rice. It might have been accidental, it’s hard to tell without seeing a replay.
84 min Newcastle have had 34 per cent of the possession in the second half and only two touches in the Arsenal area. One of them was Anthony Gordon’s tie-clinching goal.
83 min Sterling is booked for dissent. It’s been a bad night all round for Arsenal with a potential injury to Martinelli as well.
82 min “You see every bit of the struggle on Dan Burn’s face when he plays football,” says Gary Neville on Sky. “I know how he feels.”
81 min Jorghinho scoops a pass into the area towards Havertz, who goes over under challenge from Burn. The referee says no penalty, VAR agrees.
80 min: Double substitution for Newcastle Emil Krafth and Joe Willock replace Jacob Murphy and Sven Botman.
79 min Sterling beats Trippier, only for Murphy to get back and concede a corner. Newcastle’s wingers work so hard defensively.
78 min: Double substitution for Arsenal Jorginho and Riccardo Calafiori replace Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber.
76 min Gordon slithers past two players on the halfway line, but the last man Saliba steps across with authority to dispossess him.
75 min Tonali goes down after a challenge from behind by Partey. The referee shakes his head but replays suggest Partey kicked through Tonali to get the ball.
74 min A snap-volley from Nwaneri, 20 yards out, bobbles through to Dubravka. He’s been Arsenal’s brightest attacker since coming on.
72 min Gordon does superbly to track Nwaneri to the byline and eventually force him out of play. Eddie Howe applauds on the touchline; this has been one of his finest nights as Newcastle manager.
The Toon Army have been enjoying the game too. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images
70 min Botman is lucky not to be booked for a cynical block on Havertz.
68 min Arsenal win a couple of corners, though they don’t amount to anything. The referee has a word with Timber and Guimaraes after some off-the-ball nonsense. Even though this is over as a contest, I wouldn’t rule out a red card in the last quarter.
65 min Dubravka’s save from Trossard in the 23rd minute is Arsenal’s only shot on target. It’s only a slight oversimplification to say that Newcastle have done to Arsenal what Arsenal did to City on Sunday.
64 min Nwaneri beats Burn with a stepover on the right side of the area. This time his cross is excellent, flashing across the six-yard box at head height, but there’s nobody there.
63 min “As an Arsenal fan I’d like to thank Anthony Gordon for reminding me that I never cared about the League Cup anyway,” says Kári Tulinius. “Not one bit. Really.”
61 min: Double substitution for Arsenal Mikel Merino and Raheem Sterling replace Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard.
60 min Isak’s daisy-cutter from the edge of the area is comfortably saved by Raya.
59 min Newcastle’s next game is Birmingham away in the FA Cup on Saturday. Arsenal are out of that competition so they’ll have 10 days off after this, whatever the result.
58 min When Newcastle came from 4-0 down to draw with Arsenal 14 years ago today, they didn’t get their first goal until the 68th minute. So, you know, it wouldn’t be without precedent. But right now a fifth Newcastle goal looks more likely.
56 min Tonight has been an unqualified triumph for Eddie Howe, who took a risk by switching to a back five. It has paid off perfectly; and to prove his pre-match point about adaptability, it was one of the three centre-backs who won the ball off Rice just outside the penalty area to set up Gordon’s goal.
Anthony Gordon has scored after another defensive cock-up. Gordon pressed Raya, who played a dodgy short pass into Rice. Schar sacked him – just as Rice sacked Mateo Kovacic at the weekend – and Gordon, played onside by Gabriel, swept the ball into the net.
Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon celebrates scoring their second goal with Bruno Guimaraes. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images/Reuters
Anthony Gordon celebrates with a scarf. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images/Reuters
As does a Newcastle fan, though his has a message on it. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Sportsphoto
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya attempts to gee up his teammates. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA
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