Newcastle advanced to the Carabao Cup final after beating Southampton in the semi-finals. The hosts for the evening earned a 2-1 victory, raising the aggregate score of the semi-final to 3-1. It will be the club’s first cup final since 1999, an FA Cup final loss to treble-winning Manchester United.
The Urracas entered Tuesday’s game with an advantage. Newcastle beat Southampton in the first leg of the semi-final thanks to a lone goal from Joelinton. Saints defender Duje Caleta-Car was sent off at the end of last week’s game to end any hope of a comeback.
Unlikely goalscorer sends Newcastle to Carabao Cup final
Newcastle quickly extended their lead in the tie with a goal after five minutes on Tuesday night. Sean Longstaff put the hosts ahead after a good exchange with teammate Kieran Trippier. Bruno Guimarães started the sequence with a good ability to move the ball towards the goal. Longstaff found Trippier, who passed back to the midfielder. Longstaff finished off the move with a neat spike into the bottom corner of the net.
Although Longstaff doesn’t score very often, he didn’t finish that night. The 25-year-old midfielder doubled his team’s lead some 16 minutes later. Miguel Almiron squared a search ball inside the box that found Longstaff. The pass was more to a dangerous area on the pitch than to an actual player. However, Longstaff scored his second goal of the night. He entered the match with just one goal during the current campaign.
Southampton, however, responded with a goal eight minutes later. A careless backward pass from Joe Willock found Che Adams near the edge of the penalty area. The Scotland international hit a spectacular shot from distance that plummeted past Nick Pope.
Guimarães was sent off after a terrible tackle with about 10 minutes left on the clock. The Brazilian made a dangerously high tackle and saw the red card after the VAR intervention. However, the visiting Saints were unable to capitalize on the man advantage and lost the match.
Newcastle were previously beaten 2-0 by Manchester United in their last cup final game 24 years ago. The two sides could very well meet again for the upcoming Carabao Cup final this year. United are currently ahead of Nottingham Forest 3-0 after the first leg of their clash.
PHOTO: IMAGO/PA Images
