Arsenal enter their League Cup semi-final second leg against Newcastle on the back foot, but do they have what it takes to overturn the deficit?
The Gunners were beaten 2-0 in the first leg at home by Eddie Howe’s Magpies, who left with a convincing victory.
Alexander Isak opened the scoring for the visitors in the 37th minute, capitalising from close range just before the halftime whistle, delivering an early blow to Arsenal that only deepened as the match progressed.
Six minutes into the second half, Anthony Gordon doubled Newcastle’s lead in the 51st minute, reacting quickly to Isak’s rebound at the far post.
Arsenal looked far from their best and were fortunate to scrape through to the semi-finals after a narrow 3-2 win over Crystal Palace in the quarter-finals at home. A miraculous second-half hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus was the difference-maker that saw them advance.
Mikel Arteta admitted his side underperformed, despite holding the home advantage. Newcastle controlled the match and nullified Arsenal’s threats with ease.
The Gunners lacked sharpness in possession and failed to capitalise on their control of the ball. Despite their dominance on paper, they failed to dictate the flow of the game.
Arsenal face an uphill task heading into the second leg at St. James’ Park. They haven’t won at Newcastle for three seasons, a record that will weigh heavily on the minds of supporters.
To compound the concern, Arsenal have yet to score against Newcastle this season, having lost both league meetings (0-1 and 0-2) in addition to the first leg of the semi-final. After 180 minutes against Howe’s team across two competitions, Arsenal have been unable to break them down.
The challenge is daunting, and confidence among fans is low. However, football is unpredictable, and Arsenal will be hoping for a performance that can overturn the deficit and deliver a surprise result.
Liam Harding
Given our recent form at St. James Park, our injury problems, Newcastle’s form and aggregate lead, and the referees applying different laws when officiating Arsenal, I’d say we’re pretty much out.
You never know, anything can happen, but Newcastle are huge favourites, and if Oliver is the ref, then we might as well just boycott the game!
Didn’t M Oliver get sent to the monitor for a handball against Everton last season for a handball yet didn’t change his mind and award us the goal ?
Didn’t want to boycott when it suited us ?
Realistically it will be a tall order.That said,you can never really call a game of football until the final whistle. I’ve seen even bigger deficits overcome. Arsenal get an early goal and suddenly there’s jeopardy in the game. Scoring early could be key.
Not likely to overturn the first leg but quite possible.
OT – Ayden Heaven has signed for Manure and is awaiting physical.
While anything is possible, our inefficient attack doesn’t so much assurance.
Let it play out …. results of the first leg have mentally prepared us for the worst
Can’t see us overhauling Newcastle’s 2-goal advantage. They have proven to be good as very good at frustrating Arsenal with their low-block tactics.
That was much evident at the Emirates once they went 2 goals up. They defended very well and blunted every Arsenal attempt at goal.
You can expect same situation at St James”. They will defend very well again and play to catch Arsenal on the counter. And if any of their counter forays yield result, the tie is done.
But we can only hope and dream. If Arsenal, for instance, score first and early, there could be a lot of pressure on the home team.
No!
Of course it’s possible, anything is, remember 1989 when everyone said we couldn’t score two goals at Anfield to win the league?
GB,
While I agree it’s not completely out of the question.
I don’t think that Michael Thomas is available😂🤣👍.
If only we could come from behind like LP did that season but unlike them not lose it at the death.
Unfortunately not DEREK, and of course a short while later he defected to Liverpool. Let’s hope if Saka scores the winner there that he doesn’t make same switch 😂