Newcastle United beat Leicester City to reach first League Cup semi-final in 47 years

Newcastle beat Leicester 2-0 at St James’ Park to secure their place in the League Cup semi-final for the first time since 1976.

Eddie Howe’s side had a golden opportunity to take the lead inside the first minute when Sean Longstaff received the ball inside the area but saw his effort go over the bar.

It was a rampant start from the Magpies and just a minute later they were in again, this time it was Bruno Guimaraes with a missed chance as he fired his effort wide of the post.

Newcastle continued to pile on the pressure, launching attack after attack and giving Leicester virtually no time on the ball.

Guimaraes had another big chance on 15 minutes, striking his effort first time which went agonisingly wide of the pass.

Longstaff had another huge chance and perhaps Newcastle’s best chance of the half on 19 minutes, the 25-year-old latched onto the ball inside the box before firing an effort on goal from point-blank range which Danny Ward was able to tip round for a corner. A touch more composure and Newcastle would have been 1-0 up.

Leicester had to ride their luck but they weathered the storm well and began to grow in the game. As the game approached the half an hour mark The Foxes got on the ball more and were creating more chances.

Brendan Rodgers’ side had their best chance fifteen minutes from half time, Patson Daka burst into the box with the ball but opted to pass rather than shoot and it was cleared away.

The beginning of the second half was almost a carbon copy of the first, Howe’s side came flying out of the blocks and in less than a minute they had struck the woodwork, Joelinton fired an effort which took a slight deflection before cannoning off the post.

The Magpies continued to push on and after an hour they finally found the breakthrough, Dan Burn cut in superbly from the left, burst past two Leicester players and slid the ball past Ward with a finish a striker would be proud of.

It was a superb moment as Burn, a boyhood Newcastle supporter and former academy player, scored his first goal for the club.

Newcastle scored again 12 minutes later, Miguel Almiron threaded a superbly weighted pass through the Leicester defence into the path of Joelinton who struck his effort past Ward.

The introduction of Jamie Vardy saw Leicester pose more of a threat on the break, with the former England international having two big chances within the space of a minute – both efforts he could only drag wide.

Newcastle managed the closing stages of the game well and secured their place in the semi-final.

TALKING POINT – MAGPIES AIM TO END DROUGHT

Speaking to the media before the match, Eddie Howe spoke of his desire to win things at Newcastle, with the Magpies boss saying one of his big motivations is for his side to “create our own history” before going on to say he’d love for people to be “talking about this team in 50/100 years”.

The way for that to happen is simple, Newcastle have to end their trophy drought and tonight they took one giant leap towards doing that. They are into their first League Cup semi-final since 1976 and one step closer to winning their first major trophy since 1955.

Tonight they were phenomenal from start to finish and thoroughly deserved the win. If they approach the semi-final and a potential final with the same intensity, commitment, energy levels and talent on the ball that they displayed tonight, there is a chance Newcastle could be celebrating with silverware on February 26th.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH – BRUNO GUIMARAES (NEWCASTLE)

The Brazilian midfielder was, as he so often is, superb tonight for Newcastle. He was at the heart of everything good the Magpies did, always looking to get on the ball and dictate proceedings. He played some fantastic incisive passes to get Newcastle into dangerous positions and without the ball he was strong too, winning five duels and making one tackle.

PLAYER RATINGS

Newcastle United: Pope 7, Trippier 8, Schar 7, Botman 7, Burn 8, Longstaff 7, Guimaraes 9, Willock 7, Almiron 8, Wilson 7, Joelinton 8

Subs: Saint-Maximin 6, Isak 6, Murphy N/A

Leicester City: Ward 8, Thomas 6, Faes 5, Amartey 6, Castagne 6, Tielemans 6, Ndidi 7, Albrighton 6, Perez 6, Barnes 6, Daka 6

Subs: Vardy 5, Iheanacho 5, Mendy 6

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

2′ MASSIVE CHANCE! – Newcastle counter with blistering pace, Sean Longstaff receives the ball in the box but blazes it over. That looked a certain goal!

15′ BIG CHANCE! – Willock does brilliantly on the left hand side before cutting it back across and Guimaraes is there to smash it first time but it’s just wide of the post. Newcastle will be wondering how they aren’t 1 or 2-0 up here.

19′ SAVED – Sean Longstaff fires an effort on goal inside the box but Danny Ward tips it round for a corner. That’s another chance that Newcastle really should have scored!

46′ POST! – What a start to the second half from Newcastle, just like the first! Joelinton finds himself in acres of space, cuts into the box from the right and sees his effort strike the post.

60′ GOAL – NEWCASTLE UNITED – Newcastle finally find the breakthrough! Dan Burn with a superb goal for the Magpies! He cut in from the left, barges past two Leicester players before sliding the ball past Danny Ward.

72′ GOAL – NEWCASTLE UNITED – Eddie Howe’s side have a second! Miguel Almiron picks the ball up before threading a ball through to Joelinton who passes it first time into the back of the net. A superb goal.

74′ UNBELIEVABLE! – Jamie Vardy receives the ball inside the box but fires his effort wide. That is the type of chance Vardy has scored over and over in his career. That could prove to be a BIG miss for Leicester City.

KEY STAT

Newcastle United have made the semi-finals of a domestic cup for the first time since 2004/05.