Eddie Howe was already celebrated on Tyneside as the most impressive Newcastle United manager since Sir Bobby Robson before he guided them to a second Carabao Cup final in three years, but this victory over Arsenal will go down as one of his most astute.
It was a tactical masterclass from Howe, who came up with a game plan in a huge pressure, high-stakes clash and completely outfoxed Mikel Arteta.
In doing so, it can only lead us to the conclusion Howe has got Arteta’s number. Newcastle have become a team that strikes fear and loathing into his players. Only Pep Guardiola (nine) and Jürgen Klopp (six) have secured more wins than Howe’s five over the Spaniard.
Newcastle have become Arsenal’s kryptonite. For all the mitigating factors of tiredness and fixture congestion for Arsenal, Howe’s side were the better team. That has become a common occurrence.
In the last five meetings between the two, Newcastle have won four of them, scoring six goals and conceding none. The only Arsenal victory, in the league last season, came when Howe’s side were ravaged by injuries and barely able to fill the substitutes bench.
Newcastle have the perfect style to hurt Arsenal, they are lethal on the counter attack with Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy, but they also know how to frustrate them too, sitting in a low block and forcing them to try to thread passes through gaps that are not there. Arsenal were, not for the first time, far too easy to contain.
But there were clever little tweaks in this Newcastle performance that were specifically designed to confuse Arsenal. It was a game plan designed by Howe over the weekend and worked on in training for three days, including a walk-through on the morning of this match. Telegraph Sport breaks down how Newcastle outsmarted Arsenal once more.
Surprise switch to five-man defence
Rumours surfaced in the hours before kick off that Newcastle were going to play three centre-backs against Arsenal. If so, it would be the first time Howe’s side had deployed a five-man defence since a defeat away at Crystal Palace in April last year
There were rumblings of concern. Having promised to take Arsenal on in an attacking, front-foot style as they looked to build on their 2-0 lead from the first leg, surely this was too cautious and too defensive? There were even some who said Howe had sent the wrong message to their opponents when the team sheets landed just an hour before kick off.
It looked like he was scared of what Arsenal could do, tweaking his side to try and contain rather than hurt them. In fact, the opposite was true. The five-man defence was perfect to stifle Arsenal, the extra height of Fabian Schär, Sven Botman and Dan Burn nullifying Arsenal’s most potent threat from set-piece, but it was also designed to help them offensively.
With three centre-backs marking Kai Havertz, Newcastle’s system was far more fluid than it looked. With the two wing-backs, Lewis Hall and Kieran Trippier, pushing on down the flanks to join attacks, one of the centre-backs would also step up into midfield whenever Newcastle were in an offensive position. It constantly caused Arsenal problems.
Once Murphy had given Newcastle the lead, the formation worked perfectly. Arsenal saw lots of the ball but barely worked goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Spooking Gabriel and Saliba
Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak seem to terrify Arsenal’s defence. Both players scored in the first-leg win at the Emirates, after combining for the only goal of the game in the league victory at St James’ Park back in November.
It was Gordon who played in Isak early in the game and a sensational finish was sadly chalked off by the tightest of offside calls, but after that, Arsenal centre-backs were spooked by the duo’s pace and intelligent pressing.
You will not see the Arsenal pair make as many mistakes as they did here and they were extremely fortunate they did not concede a second when Gordon stole the ball of Gabriel and fired a snap shot just wide with David Raya out of position.
Newcastle wanted Arsenal to push up the pitch and play a high line, before hitting the ball long in transition for Isak and Gordon to chase. It caused all sorts of problems.
Setting a trap for Arsenal
This was perhaps the smartest part of Howe’s plan. With the three centre-backs lining up alongside each other whenever Arsenal had a goal kick, one of them would sprint out of their defensive line, through the midfield and almost to the edge of the opposition box.
Burn repeatedly did it in the first half and the sight of the giant defender sprinting around and winning tackles drew cheers from the crowd. But this was about far more than winning tackles high up the pitch, it was about luring Arsenal into a trap.
In the second half, Burn stayed where he was, allowing Schär to move forward, on the prowl like a fox waiting to pounce on a hen.
When Declan Rice moved into his customary position deep inside his own half to collect the ball from Raya, Schär had moved behind him and into his blind spot. The trap was set and now it was sprung. Gordon knew the drill, spotting Schär was in position, he sprinted at Raya, catching the goalkeeper by surprise. Looking up, the only option was to pass to the ever willing Rice.
Schär, though, was already on the move and slid in to intercept the pass. Rice had no idea he was there and it left Gordon with a simple finish. Tactical battle and game won.
