Anthony Gordon cryptically said Newcastle must ‘stay humble’ as he rubbed salt in Arsenal‘s wounds after demolishing the Gunners to book a spot in the Carabao Cup final.
It is the second time in three seasons the Magpies have reached the final of this competition after being overcome by Manchester United in 2023, as they hunt a first major domestic trophy in 70 years.
Jacob Murphy opened the scoring after 19 minutes as he tucked home from the rebound after Alexander Isak’s effort hit the post.
And then in the second half, Gordon struck to make the scoreline 2-0, finishing the two-legged tie 4-0 on aggregate. The Magpies had beaten Arsenal 2-0 in the first leg at the Emirates on January 7.
Eddie Howe‘s men will now face either Liverpool or Tottenham — the two sides play their second leg on Thursday with Spurs one goal up from the first leg — in the final at Wembley on March 16.
An elated Gordon couldn’t help but refer to staying ‘humble’ days after a weekend dominated by Arsenal’s goading of Erling Haaland during their 5-1 victory on Sunday, the Norwegian striker having directed the remark at Mikel Arteta earlier in the season.
Gordon said: ‘It feels amazing. A proper team performance and we got the win. Our fans are never in question, they make it so difficult for the opposition and we did it the right way.
‘We had a game plan we thought would work. Everyone knows we press. It is important for us to stay humble now. It will be a big occasion, but it’s so far away.’
Shortly after the win, Newcastle’s social media account poked fun at Arsenal and, specifically, Mikel Arteta with a quick-witted post online.
After defeat in the first-leg of the semi-final, Arteta bizarrely blamed the ball – manufactured by Puma, not Nike, who make the Premier League ball – for his side’s defeat.
And those complaints were clearly not forgotten by Newcastle’s social media team, who posted a picture of the Carabao Cup ball with the caption: ‘The culprit.’
Magpies fans also mocked Arteta with a chant during the match at St James’ Park. ‘Mikel Arteta, it must be the ball,’ the Toon Army sang.
Howe hailed the aggression his side showed and urged them to build upon their last Carabao Cup final from two years ago.
‘It was a great night for us,’ said Howe. ‘It worked well. It was a tough game, tactically we were good, the intention was to be aggressive.
‘We wanted to get pressure on them and you have to allow the players to feel comfortable, we had to get the bodies in the right areas and you have to get the players to execute it. But we thought we had to be ourselves and on the front foot.
‘We are always competitive. You have to be. It was not an order to be aggressive, but we have to stand our ground and if that means a physical confrontation, we will mix it with them.
‘It is huge because the first appearance (against Manchester United) was brilliant and unexpected. We need to be there regularly. We have done the hard yards and now have an opportunity.
‘When we lost before, you have to learn from disappointing experiences.
‘They (fans) are celebrating in a good way, not an over-the-top way. I hope for the supporters we can get a trophy.’
Mikel Arteta was left to a rue another opportunity at silverware gone as their wait for a major trophy goes on. Arsenal’s last scalp dates back to their 2020 FA Cup victory.
With no striker signed in the January transfer window, that looks ever harder.
Arteta said: ‘When you want to be in the cup finals, you want to win trophies, at the end those are hard.
‘They’ve (Newcastle) been really effective in the box in the last two games that we’ve played against them and we haven’t. Overall, that was the main difference. It’s true that today we’ve been a bit more unsettled, especially when the game became more chaotic or when they were very direct with their play.
‘Normally we are much more composed, today we lacked a bit of that and the game went away from us.’
The Spaniard confirmed Gabriel Martinelli will have an MRI scan after coming off in the first half with having felt discomfort in his hamstring.
When asked about Isak’s performance, Arteta added: ‘I’m not here to evaluate opposition players but it’s clear that he had two actions to finish and you know what happened.’
