By Robert Wheeler
- Newcastle through after defeating Southampton
- Manchester United ease past Nottingham Forest
- The final will be held later this month
UK – Newcastle United and Manchester United are the EFL Cup finalists after they beat Southampton and Nottingham Forest respectively in the semi-finals.
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Longstaff’s wizardry sends Newcastle through
Kevin Keegan‘s Newcastle side of the 1990s was nicknamed the ‘Entertainers’ but they did not win anything. This Magpies side under Eddie Howe is entertaining and has a chance of lifting silverware after they defeated Southampton to book their place in the EFL Cup final.
Sean Longstaff netted twice early on to give his side a three-goal aggregate advantage. Southampton responded through Che Adams with a great strike from outside the box. However, it was not enough for the Saints. Despite Newcastle going down to ten men when Bruno Guimaraes was sent off, Howe’s side held on and progressed with a 3-1 score across both legs.
There is a lot to admire about Newcastle at the moment, as the club introduced two new signings, Anthony Gordon and Harrison Ashby, to the crowd at half-time. These will be players of the future but they are not forgetting their past as outgoing player Jonjo Shelvey, who has now signed for Nottingham Forest, was given a great sendoff by their fans at St James’ Park.
It was Newcastle’s supporters who really were their 12th man on the night. The atmosphere was rocking with flags and scarves waving as their team was waved on to Wembley. They now have a chance to win their first major domestic trophy in 68 years.
Fantastic five for Manchester United
Manchester United secured their place in the EFL Cup final thanks to second-half goals from Anthony Martial and Fred which helped complete a 5-0 aggregate win over Nottingham Forest.
It was not Forest’s day with Jesse Lingard who was set to start against his former club getting injured in the warm-up. There were chances for both sides in the first half with Wout Weghorst coming the closest as his header came back off the crossbar.
Two of Eric ten Hag‘s substitutes combined when Marcus Rashford set up Martial for United’s first goal in the 73rd minute. Rashford then assisted Fred just three minutes later to complete the rout.
More good news for ten Hag’s side was that Jadon Sancho played for the first time since October after he was given time off to help him get back to his best.
The Red Devils have not won a trophy since 2017 and have lost two finals since then. They have a chance to end this long drought by their standards but face the tough challenge of an in-form Newcastle side.
The two sides met in the 1999 FA Cup final and on that occasion, it was United who came out on top. Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes were on the scoresheet in a 2-0 victory over a Newcastle team that had Alan Shearer as their captain.
Manchester United and Newcastle will meet in the final on Sunday, February 26 at Wembley Stadium.
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