- Magpies down Southampton 3-1 to reach first final in 24 years
- As Man United eye double over Nottingham Forest Wednesday
Newcastle are off to Wembley, thanks to Sean Longstaff emerged the unlikely hero with two goals as they beat Southampton 2-1 on Tuesday night to reach the Carabao Cup final.
The 3-1 aggregate scoreline from both legs successfully pushed the Magpies to their first domestic final in 24 years. The last time such luxury came Newcastle’s way was in 1999 when goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes aborted the silverware dream as they lost 0-2 to Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
Interestingly, that night proved historic for the Red Devils who not only claimed their 10th FA Cup title, but also completed the second part of their famous Treble on 22 May 1999 under the watchful eyes of their legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.
As expected on Tuesday night, it was tough for the Saints seeking to overturn the one-goal deficit at a bouncing St. James’ Park, and the decibels rose few notches higher when local lad Longstaff scored the opener for the home side.
The 25-year-old’s expert finish didn’t tell of a man scoring his first goal of the season, and after missing a sitter he made it two by capping off a fine team move just moments later.
Looking down and out at that, Southampton however restored some hope of salvation when Che Adams pulled a long-range beauty out of nowhere to end Nick Pope’s run of 10 consecutive clean sheets.
Former Magpie Adam Armstrong should have sparked a comeback but fired straight at Pope one-on-one with about 15 minutes left of play. The home side then endured a nervy finish when Bruno Guimaraes was dismissed for a horror challenge on substitute Samuel Edozie.
The suspension means he will miss the next three league outings against West Ham, Bournemouth and Liverpool, dealing Newcastle a major blow on an otherwise joyous night.
In a Newcastle team boasting the offensive talents of Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and Callum Wilson, few would have foreseen Longstaff being the hero. That means no disrespect to the 25-year-old, but two goals in his last 80 matches tells its own story.
This tally was matched in little over 20 minutes at St. James’ Park, and, in truth, the midfielder should have sealed a hat-trick. In the end, Longstaff will have to settle for scoring twice to take his boyhood club to their first major domestic final in 25 years.
However, the big loser from this match is certainly be Southampton forward Armstrong who somehow managed to evade the scoresheet at St. Mary’s a week ago, but he was at fault at the other end of the pitch on Tuesday.
The Saints striker was weak in the challenge for Longstaff’s first, but had the opportunity to redeem himself with the scores at 2-1 and little over 15 minutes on the clock. Played through brilliantly by Romeo Lavia and with only Pope to beat, Armstrong declined to take the obvious option and round the keeper. He instead tried and failed to dink it over Pope, spurning a golden opportunity for Southampton to spark an unlikely comeback.
Barring any miracle, the semi-final victory sets up a Carabao Cup final against Manchester United that gave them a 2-0 spanking the last time the Magpies reached a major domestic final, back in the 1998-99 FA Cup campaign.
