What were you worried about? - Newcastle United breeze past Arsenal to book Wembley date next month

 · February 5 2025, 22:22
What were you worried about? - Newcastle United breeze past Arsenal to book Wembley date next month
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Newcastle United will walk out at Wembley in a cup final for the second time in three seasons next month after they doubled their two-goal lead over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at St James' Park.

If the 50,000 Geordies inside St James' Park tonight were nervous before the game they didn't show any signs of it from 7:45pm onwards as the noise levels around St James' Park started to ramp up.

Johnny Blue Hat belted out Local Hero on the saxophone on the hallowed turf and the noise levels never dropped from that point onwards as Newcastle United set about dismantling Arsenal.

The new-look Magpies, playing in an unfamiliar formation, were, to a man, excellent as they went about their tasks perfectly.

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Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy tore Arsenal apart

Alexander Isak had the ball in the back of the net early on but the goal was chalked off after a lengthy VAR review for the most marginal of offsides, but it was merely a sign of things to come.

Isak turned provider for Newcastle's opening goal on 19 minutes after an absolutely stunning piece of play, which saw a long ball out from Martin Dubravka flicked on to Anthony Gordon by Isak before Gordon returned the favour. Isak took the ball on, drove into the box and unleashed a fierce shot which struck the post. Fortunately, the ball ricocheted into the path of Jacob Murphy, who fired first time into an open goal to continue his stunning run of form.

Newcastle had an answer for everything Arsenal threw at them and kept their 1-0 lead going into the tunnel at half time.

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We're going to get wor suits measured!

The Sky Sports commentators pointed out the difference in Newcastle's first and second-half performances against Fulham on Saturday, but there was no sign of any drop-off in performance this time.

Once again there was an early warning shot after confusion at the back saw Anthony Gordon steal the ball and try his luck from distance, but dragged his shot just wide. However, it wasn't long before Gordon had his goal.

Fabian Schar, of all people, closed down William Saliba one the edge of his own area and the ball ran free to Anthony Gordon who slotted home to make it 2-0 on the night, 4-0 overall, and secured Newcastle's Wembley place.

Alexander Isak picked up Sky's Player of the Match despite not scoring, but all night he, Murphy and Gordon made Saliba and Gabriel look like prime Titus Bramble and Jean-Alain Boumsong.

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