Eddie Howe on Wednesday said that his Newcastle United team executed his game plan to perfection as they completed a 4-0 aggregate romp over Arsenal to reach the EFL Cup final.
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.
Photo: AFP
Jacob Murphy extended Newcastle’s advantage before the midway point of the first half and Anthony Gordon punished a mistake by Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya to prompt the start of the Toon Army party at a boisterous St James’ Park.
“We wanted to get pressure on them [Gabriel and Saliba], 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 his side’s UEFA Champions League experience last season meant the players can quickly adapt.
Photo: AP
“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 EFL 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.
Tottenham Hotspur have a 1-0 advantage in the second leg of their semi-final away to holders Liverpool. That game was to start after press time last night.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said that his side lacked their usual composure.
Arteta said his team arrived with high expectations that they could overcome the 2-0 deficit from the first leg, but after Martin Odegaard wasted a glorious early chance, they faded.
“To believe that we could turn it around, we needed to generate momentum, especially in the first half,” Arteta told reporters. “Then we had the moment, two big moments, with Martin, we didn’t capitalize the next action, they scored the goal and obviously, the game shifted.”
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