About last night
Newcastle United fans are booking up for Wembley, and waiting for Carabao Cup final ticket news, after a momentous win over Arsenal at St James' Park.
Wembley beckons – again.
It did not take long for those pre-match nerves felt by Newcastle United fans to dissipate at St James’ Park.
The first goal was always going to be all-important in last night’s Carabao Cup semi-final, second-leg tie against Arsenal – and so it proved. Eddie Howe’s side, leading 2-0 from the first leg, knew that if they started well, the tie would end well.
And so it proved.
These nights haven’t, historically, come around very often for a club which has not won a major trophy since the Fairs Cup triumph of 1969.
Visits to the national stadium have been few and far between over the decades, and the club has not won a final there since 1955 (NINETEEN FIFTY-FIVE).
Yet, for the second time in two years, the team is heading to Wembley for a Carabao Cup final. Howe has plotted a course into uncharted territory for the club in the modern era.
Fans had been gripped by nerves in the build-up to the game, despite their first-leg advantage. Anxious supporters had aired their fears on social media ahead of the tie.
Back-to-back home defeats to Fulham and Bournemouth – and Arsenal’s impressive 5-1 win over Premier League champions Manchester City last weekend – and led to some unease on Tyneside as fans reflected on a transfer window which had left the club, constrained in the market by the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, with a weaker squad and a stronger balance sheet following the departures of Miguel Almiron and Lloyd Kelly.
Still, this Newcastle team, which had beaten three top-flight teams in the earlier rounds in the competition, is made of strong stuff.
Arsenal, for their part, knew an early goal for them could change everything.
Wor Flags message
St James’ Park, unusually, was full long before the game kicked off, but this was not a normal game, if there is such a thing.
There were flags and scarves everywhere as the teams eventually emerged from the tunnel.
Howe’s decision to go with a back five was a bold one, yet the transition from his preferred formation was seamless.
A Wor Flags banner in the Gallowgate End simply read: “Get into them”.
And Newcastle, without the injured Joelinton, did just that. They never allowed Arsenal to settle into the game, and after an outrageous early strike from Alexander Isak was ruled offside following a lengthy VAR check, they struck again.
Isak hit the post, and Jacob Murphy, maybe fittingly given his form this season, made an awkward finish look easy after the ball rebounded to him to the right of David Raya’s goal.
The tie was all but over with 19 minutes gone, and Anthony Gordon was the beneficiary of an error after the break to confirm the club’s place in the final.
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s head coach, was taunted throughout the game for his comments on the match ball after the first leg at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gooners, as nufc.com eloquently put it, were “Goners”, and fans chanted “Mikel Arteta, it must be the ball” as they streamed out of St James’ Park.
Wembley tickets
Now for the hard part.
The club was allocated 32,761 tickets for the 2023 final, and it could comfortably sell twice that figure for this season’s showpiece.
Newcastle will soon reveal plans for their allocation, and cup tickets will be the talk of Tyneside until the March 16 final, where they will meet Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur.
Like last time, tens of thousands of fans will be left disappointed.
Communication, as ever, will be important amid scrutiny of the allocation ahead of a another Geordie exodus to London.
Final thought
Howe touched on something in his post-match press conference.
The last showpiece, of course, was something of a novelty for a club unused to major finals.
It was “unexpected”, according to Howe. Maybe there was more hope than expectation on the day.
There was not much between themselves and Manchester United on the pitch, but there was enough of a difference. Erik ten Hag’s side won 2-0 thanks to goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford.
Ten Hag – who had described Newcastle as “annoying” before game – brought the trophy into his post-match press conference and spoke about his team’s “adaptability”. Howe’s side have proved since then that they are even more adaptable.
Newcastle’s return is less of a surprise given the club’s trajectory under new ownership and Howe’s management. There will be as much expectation as hope next month.
"It is huge to get back to Wembley,” said head coach Howe. “The first appearance there was a bit unexpected, but with 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."
The opposition that day, used to major finals, did not get wrapped up in the occasion – and nor did their fans. It was not just a day out.
Newcastle will have learnt from that experience. They will be far better equipped to play the game, not the occasion.
And Howe’s team, having done those “hard yards”, are potentially just 90 minutes from writing themselves into the club’s history books.
“Que sera, sera.
“Whatever will be, will be.
“The future's not ours to see.
“Que sera, sera.
“What will be, will be.”