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.
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.
Tottenham hold a 1-0 lead ahead of Thursday’s second-leg at Anfield.
Of the 32 previous occasions that a team has lost the first leg of a League Cup semi-final by two goals or more, only once has a team recovered the deficit to reach the final.
Based on the evidence of their crushing 5-1 victory over Manchester City on Sunday, it seemed entirely feasible that Arsenal might buck that trend and ruin the Geordie party.
In the end it was a night of unbridled joy on Tyneside as the club’s long-suffering fans scent another shot at silverware.
The outcome of the tie was probably decided just before the midway point of the first half.
Had Arsenal skipper Odegaard taken a golden opportunity instead of slicing a shot hurriedly against the outside of the post, Newcastle might have been consumed by anxiety, especially as they had already had an Isak effort ruled out by VAR for the tightest of offside decisions.
