Newcastle Beats Arsenal to Reach League Cup Final, 1st Title in 70 Years

Newcastle is back into the final of the English League Cup to seize another chance of ending a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy.

The Saudi Arabian-controlled northeast club, after winning this second leg of the semifinals on Wednesday 2-0, was victorious in the tie 4-0 on aggregate. An active atmosphere in St. James' Park was entertained with the two goals from Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon.

Wembley Stadium will stage the final on March 16, wherein Newcastle will come against either Tottenham or Liverpool. After the first leg, Tottenham led 1-0, with the return at Anfield on Thursday.

It will be Newcastle's second try to win a first silverware after the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia bought the club in 2021. Newcastle's last trophy was the now-defunct Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969, and their last domestic title was the FA Cup in 1955. Newcastle reached the 2023 League Cup final, but it was a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United.

We could dream big while playing like this," Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes said after the Arsenal match. It would be amazing in my first season as the captain to lift a trophy, it is my dream."

Arsenal arrived on the back of a 5-1 thrashing of Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday and looking to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg against Newcastle at Emirates Stadium last month.

Mikel Arteta's team failed to cope up with the bouncy atmosphere inside St. James', with a usually solid defense looking fragile and almost collapsing in just four minutes when Alexander Isak was played through on goal and curled into the top corner. It was disallowed for offside following a video review and the decision was announced to fans inside the stadium by the referee via a wireless microphone a practice being trialed in the English League Cup ahead of use in the Premier League.

After Martin Odegaard had hit the post for Arsenal, Newcastle had taken the lead in the 19th with Isak hitting a shot against the post before Murphy scored from the rebound.

Arsenal's slim hopes of a comeback suffered another blow when Gabriel Martinelli limped off with a muscle injury before half-time, and Gordon effectively booked Newcastle's place in the title decider when he scored the second after Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was robbed outside his area by a sliding Fabian Schar.

The ball flew straight to Gordon, who swivelled and shot into the bottom corner past stranded goalkeeper David Raya.

Arsenal, a two-time League Cup winner, wanted to make it to the final for the first time since 2018, when it lost 3-0 to Man City.

Newcastle fans took to taunting Arsenal's manager in the final minutes, chanting: "Mikel Arteta, it must be the ball." It referred to Arteta's comment that after his side spurned several chances that the ball in the League Cup was very different from a Premier League ball.

And Gordon appeared to deliver a post-match dig at Arsenal, whose players and fans had relished goading Manchester City striker Erling Haaland on Sunday for his humble comment in the previous match between the two teams.

It's time for us to be humble now, Gordon said ahead of the final. "It will be a big occasion but it's so far away."