Newcastle beat Southampton to reach Carabao Cup Final
Semi-final 2nd leg
Newcastle United 2-1 Southampton (Agg. 3-1)
Newcastle United will play at Wembley for the first time in 24 years after they beat Southampton 3-1 on aggregate to reach the Carabao Cup final.
Leading 1-0 from the first leg of their semi-final at St Mary’s, Sean Longstaff was the unlikely hero as he notched an early double to extend the Magpies’ lead and set them firmly on course for their first major final since the 1999 FA Cup, their first trip to the new Wembley, and their first League Cup final since 1976.
Che Adams then hit a beauty from outside the box to give Southampton some hope just before the half-hour mark, but they failed to build on that as Newcastle saw out a 2-1 win on a night of jubilant celebration at St James’ Park. The only slight blot was a late red card for Bruno Guimaraes, who will now be banned for three games, after an awful late challenge on Samuel Edozie.
Crucially, though, he will not miss the final, where Manchester United or Nottingham Forest will be standing in the way of Newcastle’s first silverware since 1969. Although it will likely be the former as they lead 3-0 going into the second leg of their semi-final at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
Any nerves Newcastle may have been feeling were rapidly dispelled by an electric start and fine early goal. Kieran Trippier had the ball down the right and shifted it inside to Longstaff, who ended a run of 54 appearances without a home goal as he took a touch and then finished past Gavin Bazunu.
And just like London buses it was a rapid second for the midfielder. It was another superb team move as Joelinton and Joe Willock combined down the left, before Miguel Almiron’s cut back into space found the run of Longstaff to slam in.
Southampton were stunned, but they were given a massive lifeline thanks to a loose pass from Willock into the path of Adams. The striker still had an awful lot to do, though, but he took advantage of space 20 yards out to strike a fizzing effort beyond the outstretched dive of Nick Pope – the first time the goalkeeper had conceded in any competition since they faced the Saints in the Premier League on November 6.
Nathan Jones made some changes at half-time to try and haul his side back into the semi-final, and one of his subs in Romeo Lavia nearly helped them do just that, as his brilliant pass on 72 minutes found the run of Adam Armstrong. He broke the offside trap, but could not find his way past Pope when he was through one-on-one.
But that would be the last chance for Southampton, meaning Newcastle can look forward to a first League Cup final for 47 years, and an attempt to win a trophy for the first time since winning the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final in 1969 – a wait of 54 years.
