Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon fired Newcastle to a second Carabao Cup final in three years as the Magpies secured a thumping aggregate win over Arsenal and moved a step closer to ending their 70-year wait for a domestic trophy.
Murphy and Gordon struck either side of half-time to seal a 2-0 victory over the Gunners at St James’ Park, to go with their win by the same scoreline at the Emirates Stadium last month, to book a Wembley showdown with either Liverpool or Tottenham.
Fourteen years to the day from a remarkable 4-4 Premier League draw between the sides which was secured by the late Cheick Tiote’s wonder strike, his son Rafael was among the mascots as the Magpies dispelled the pre-match nerves of the home fans to claim a 4-0 semi-final win on aggregate.
If Eddie Howe’s three-man rearguard – he had drafted in central defender Sven Botman as a replacement for injured midfielder Joelinton – set the tone for an uncompromising display, it was the pace and potency of striker Alexander Isak, for so long the subject of speculation linking him with the North London club, which terrified the visitors.
Isak’s stunning early finish may have been ruled out by VAR but it was his incision which led to the opening goal and the attention the Gunners had to pay to him throughout was instrumental in what followed.
The game kicked off amidst a cacophony as the home fans attempted to roar their side on after back-to-back home defeats.
They thought they had got their reward within four minutes when Gordon slid Isak in behind Gabriel and he sent a thunderous shot high past David Raya and into the top corner, only for a lengthy VAR review to result in an offside decision.
Relieved as the Gunners were, they looked rattled as the Magpies pressed high, although they gradually began to impose themselves with Leandro Trossard in particular making in-roads down the right.
Lewis Hall volleyed Jacob Murphy’s 15th-minute cross into the side-netting from an unlikely angle but Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard forced a block from Botman and then clipped the outside of the post seconds later.
However, Newcastle made the most of their escape with 19 minutes gone when Gordon once again picked out Isak’s run and, although the Sweden international’s shot came back off the post, Murphy steered the rebound past the stranded Raya.
Opposite number Martin Dubravka had to make a solid reaction save to deny Trossard four minutes later with the visitors scrapping for a lifeline.
Mikel Arteta’s men were dominating both possession and territory but they were playing largely in front of the massed black and white ranks.
Early substitute Ethan Nwaneri’s pace down the right gave the Gunners renewed threat but Gordon curled a right-foot shot just wide in first-half stoppage time after leaving Declan Rice for dead.
The former Everton forward might have put the game beyond doubt within four minutes of the restart when he robbed William Saliba with Raya out of his goal but he could not find the target from distance.
But Gordon made no mistake with 52 minutes gone when Fabian Schar caught Rice in possession from Raya’s ill-judged pass and the England international gleefully fired home.
The Gunners were laboured in their efforts to claw their way back into the tie, with Dubravka fielding Nwaneri’s tame 74th-minute attempt comfortably as Howe’s men saw out a third win of the season over Arsenal with little difficulty.
