NEWCASTLE (Reuters) – Eddie Howe said his Newcastle United team executed his game plan to perfection as they completed a 4-0 aggregate romp over Arsenal to reach the League Cup final on Wednesday.
Leading 2-0 from the first leg in north London, it would have been easy for Newcastle to sit back and try to protect their advantage. But that was never in Howe’s thinking.
Instead, Newcastle’s intense pressing smothered Arsenal from the start and forced the likes of Gabriel, William Saliba and Declan Rice into a series of uncharacteristic mistakes.
Jacob Murphy extended Newcastle’s advantage before the midway point of the first half and Anthony Gordon punished a mistake by Arsenal keeper David Raya to kickstart the Toon Army party at a boisterous St James’ park.
“We wanted to get pressure on them (William Saliba and Gabriel) and in order to do that we had to get bodies in the right areas and press high — that is how we decided to do it,” Howe told Sky Sports.
“We were playing against elite players and one mistake can make things difficult. We had to be ourselves, be front foot.”
Howe said the planning for the game had only started on Monday, but that his side’s Champions League experience last season meant the players can quickly adapt.
“The Champions League experience really helped us because that got us working with two-day turnarounds,” he said. “We can tweak things depending on the opposition and you could see today the change in our performance.”
Howe led Newcastle to the League Cup final two years ago but they fell short as the club’s wait for major silverware, which now dates back 70 years, went on.
Newcastle fans will be forgiven for hoping that Tottenham Hotspur can protect a 1-0 advantage in the second leg of the second semi-final away to holders Liverpool on Thursday.
Whichever team Newcastle face in the Wembley showpiece next month, Howe believes they will be better-equipped to deliver.
“It is huge (to get back to Wembley),” Howe said. “The first appearance there was a bit unexpected, but the club we want to be we have to be there regularly, so it’s not a surprise.
“We are there on merit, our run has not been easy this year, we’ve faced four Premier League teams, so we have done the hard yards. Hopefully we can learn from the last experience and improve our performance.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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