Newcastle United reached their first cup final since 1999 by beating Southampton in the EFL Cup at St James’ Park.
Eddie Howe’s resurgent side will face Manchester United or Nottingham Forest at Wembley as the Magpies look to win their first major trophy since the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969.
Newcastle, who last played in Wembley’s showpiece when they were beaten by Manchester United in the 1999 FA Cup final, led 1-0 from the first leg of the semi-final, and Sean Longstaff settled any nerves between an expected tone army with two. Initial objectives.
Newcastle’s celebrations were only overshadowed by a late red card for influential Brazilian midfielder Bruno Gomaris for a challenge on Samuel Eduzi, awarded by referee Paul Tierney after VAR intervention.
The hosts went in front after just four minutes when Longstaff capitalized on good work from Kieran Trippier to beat Saints keeper Gavin Bazzuno, and then the goalscorer finished confidently in the 21st minute.
Chey Adams gave Southampton hope on the half-hour with a fine 25-yard strike that ended Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope’s bid for an 11th consecutive clean sheet, but his slow start cost him Howe and his men. It became expensive to leave thinking about Wembley’s history. On 26 February
Newcastle’s dream season goes on
When Howe took over from Steve Bruce in November 2021, Newcastle’s new Saudi Arabian owners were restructuring the club following their takeover.
Newcastle’s fanatical support hoped the new fortune would reverse years of underachievement and there would be no silverware, but even they would struggle to take in the scale of the change.
Along with the Wembley appearance, Howe’s men are third in the Premier League after a brilliant start and have lost just once in 20 games – and that only one goal resulted in an admittedly deep injury-time defeat at Liverpool. .
Howe has built Newcastle’s revival on a strong defence, with new signings Pope, Trappier, Dan Byrne and Sven Boatman contributing brilliantly.
Guimaraes, despite his absence against Southampton, provides world-class development in midfield, while £60m striker Aleksandar Isak has shown his quality despite injury problems.
And watching it all from the stands on Tyneside, wearing a black and white scarf, was Newcastle’s latest acquisition – Anthony Gordon, who has signed a deal from Everton that could eventually be worth £45m.
Gordon will have enjoyed his first match-night experience as a Newcastle player at St James’ Park, with fans looking forward to their first final in this competition hungry for success since the 1976 loss to Manchester City.
Speaking to JEE News after the game, Howe said: “It feels really good tonight. I’m really happy for everyone involved at the club. It was a really tense night. So it was a great environment and a wonderful atmosphere. I
Southampton suffer for slow start
Southampton’s trick will surely be to hang on for as long as possible in this tie and shift the weight of hope back onto Newcastle, playing on any tension that may have arisen.
Instead, conceding two early goals – the first particularly cheap and the result of two sloppy pieces in possession – left them struggling from the outset.
Southampton actually caused some nerves, especially when Pope had to save at the feet of Adam Armstrong in the second half, but they had a lot to do.
Manager Nathan Jones will now return to the task of guiding Saints up the league after the disappointment of missing out on an appearance at Wembley.
Southampton striker Che Adams told Sky Sports after the match: “It’s not good to lose like we did but we let the game slip away early with two cheap goals. In the second half we went one but we got it with a minute to go.” To do.
“We dust ourselves off at the end of the week.
He added: “Our focus now is on the Premier League and getting away from relegation. Everyone is on board and ready to go.
“We’ve always had enough but we haven’t done it consistently.”
