On Wednesday, in a highly charged atmosphere at St James' Park, Newcastle United achieved a remarkable 2-0 victory over Arsenal. This triumph enabled them to reach the League Cup final for the second time in three seasons. With this win, they completed a dominant 4-0 aggregate victory, showcasing their superiority over the Gunners in the two - legged tie.

Moments after Arsenal's Martin Ødegaard wasted a chance to halve the deficit, Jacob Murphy tucked away a rebound in the 19th minute after Alexander Isak's shot hit the woodwork.

Arsenal, surprisingly beaten 2-0 at home in the first leg, suffered another off-night and their fate was sealed when Anthony Gordon punished a defensive error in the 52nd minute to put the hosts in cruise control.

Newcastle, who have not won a major trophy since 1955, will play either Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur in the Wembley final next month when they hope to go one better than 2023 when they lost in the final to Manchester United.

Tottenham hold a 1-0 lead ahead of Thursday's second leg at Anfield.

Of the 32 previous occasions that a team has lost the first leg of a League Cup semifinal by two goals or more, only once has a team recovered the deficit to reach the final.

Based on the evidence of their crushing 5-1 victory over Manchester City on Sunday, it seemed entirely feasible that Arsenal might buck that trend and ruin the Geordie party.

In the end it was a night of unbridled joy on Tyneside as the club's long-suffering fans scent another shot at silverware.

As it turned out, the outcome of the tie was probably decided just before the midway point of the first half.

Had Arsenal skipper Ødegaard taken a golden opportunity instead of slicing a shot hurriedly against the outside of the post, Newcastle might have been consumed by anxiety, especially as they had already had an Isak effort ruled out by VAR for the tightest of offside decisions.

A minute after Ødegaard's miss, the marauding Isak went through on goal again and his curling shot ricocheted off the post to Murphy who stayed ice cool to steer the rebound home from a tight angle.

"I was very happy (Ødegaard') missed it," Newcastle's Brazilian skipper Bruno Guimarães said. "That was a big opportunity for them and then I think less than two minutes later we score. It was a game changer.

"I felt anxious before the game, big game, Arsenal a top, top team but when we play like that we become an amazing team. Play like that and we can dream big."

Arsenal endured yet another setback when Gabriel Martinelli was forced to leave the pitch due to a hamstring injury before the halftime break. And things only deteriorated for them early in the second half.

The visiting team's defense seemed uncharacteristically jittery. William Saliba got a stroke of luck as Gordon, after dispossessing him and catching goalkeeper David Raya off his line, missed the opportunity to score from a long - range shot.

However, Arsenal didn't learn from this warning. Just minutes later, Raya carelessly passed the ball out, and Gordon intercepted it. The Newcastle player then unleashed a first - time shot that sailed past the Spanish keeper and into the net inside the post.

Once the pre - match nervousness dissipated, Newcastle was able to control the remainder of the game comfortably against an Arsenal side that now has to regroup. They must refocus their efforts on attempting to close the gap on Liverpool in the Premier League title chase.