Report: Newcastle 2-0 Arsenal (inc. goals)

Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Trossard, Martinelli, Havertz

Subs: Setford, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Calafiori, Tierney, Jorginho, Merino, Nwaneri, Sterling

Arsenal ensured they won’t be heading to Wembley this season after losing their Carabao Cup second leg 2-0 to Newcastle at St James’ Park, thanks to goals from Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon (4-0 aggregate).

Mikel Arteta named an unchanged side from Sunday’s 5-1 win over Manchester City, with Myles Lewis-Skelly keeping his place ahead of Riccardo Calafiori and Ethan Nwaneri on the bench.

Tommy Setford was also named among the substitutes with Neto cup tied after playing in the competition for Bournemouth earlier this season.

After starting quickly against City, it looked like Arsenal would be on the other end of a fast start when Alexander Isak ran off the back of Gabriel before blasting beyond Raya after just three minutes.

That strike put St James’ Park into party mode, but the visitors were rescued by a late offside flag with Isak judged to have strayed offside from the initial pass. It was a huge slice of luck and one that should have been a wake up call.

But the game continued as it started and Arteta’s men really struggled to settle early on, with Newcastle pressing and harrying at every opportunity which disrupted their passing game.

They eventually found their rhythm though and Martin Odegaard was inches away from scoring the early goal Arteta desperately craved, striking the post from close range after Gabriel Martinelli was clattered by Dan Burn on the edge of the area.

With just under 20 minutes on the clock that should have been game on for Arsenal, instead the tie became an almost impossible task after conceding less than a minute later.

Isak was causing problems for William Saliba yet again and after nicking the ball ahead of him, he played a quick one-two with Anthony Gordon before smashing a left footed strike onto the post – but it dropped perfectly for Jacob Murphy on the rebound. 1-0.

The visitors were surprisingly open early on and Isak had been threatening all game up until that point, although it goes to show just how fine the margins are sometimes.

Things went from bad to worse after the half hour mark when Martinelli went down injured – clutching his hamstring – with Ethan Nwaneri coming on to replace him. The fixture schedule isn’t as hectic as it was, but the timing felt typical after the club opted against signing anybody during the January window.

You could see Arsenal becoming increasingly frustrated and Kai Havertz was booked after shoulder charging Bruno Guimaraes by the corner flag, before Saliba found himself in the book for fouling Gordon after misjudging the flight of the ball.

Half time provided some respite for the Gunners who needed some time to regroup, but the focus should have been centred around avoiding embarrassment and further injuries.

Less than five minutes into the second half, Newcastle should have doubled their lead after Saliba (who struggled in the first period) gave the ball straight to Gordon with Raya out of his goal but the English winger curled inches wide.

That did nothing to change the Arsenal mentality with Raya gifting Newcastle their second just minutes later. After delaying on the ball, he sold Declan Rice a hospital pass which was intercepted by Fabian Schar, allowing Gordon to turn and shoot beyond the Spaniard under zero pressure. 2-0.

Arteta then decided to change things with half an hour to play, replacing Odegaard and Leandro Trossard with Mikel Merino and Raheem Sterling, in what felt like a “white flag” switch.

With 15 minutes remaining, both sides knew the game was done and Arteta made further changes with Calafiori and Jorginho coming on for Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey. The referee’s full time whistle ended a second half that seemed to last an eternity.

Arsenal already had a mountain to climb after their first leg defeat, but the overall performance fell way short of what was needed to overturn that two-goal deficit. Collectively and individually the team were not good enough and mistakes were punished clinically by some excellent forwards.

Get everybody relaxed and rested in Dubai, and attack the second half of the season with some fresh legs.