Eddie Howe reveals Newcastle targeted 2 key Arsenal players in 2-0 win over Gunners in 2nd leg of EFL Cup S/F

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has revealed that his players targeted William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes during their EFL Cup semi-final second-leg clash with Arsenal. The Magpies booked their place in the final at Wembley, beating the Gunners 2-0 at St. James' Park on Wednesday for a 4-0 aggregate scoreline.

Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon scored once in each half as the Tyneside club delivered another impressive performance and stopped Mikel Arteta's side from scoring. After the clash, Howe disclosed that he instructed his players to put pressure on Arsenal's center-back duo of Saliba and Gabriel. He also commended Fabian Schar for doing a good job in man-marking Declan Rice.

"The players followed the instruction to the letter, they deserve the credit. Fabian had big distances to cover in his job, tracking Declan Rice whether he dropped low or went wide or went central. At times he went right across the pitch. He is a good athlete and is very capable of doing it," Howe said (via Metro).

"We wanted to get pressure on them [Saliba and Gabriel] and in order to do that we had to get bodies in the right areas and press high – that is how we decided to do it," he continued.

"You know you are playing against elite players and one mistake can make things difficult. We had to be ourselves, be front foot. If not then it can quickly be 1-0 and 2-0 and then you are on the back foot," the manager added.

The Magpies secured a 2-0 win at the Emirates during the first leg courtesy of goals from Alexander Isak and Gordon. They will now face either Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur in the final at Wembley on March 16.

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta highlights his team's shortcomings in their 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final loss to Newcastle United

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta pointed out his side's slow first-half performance and failure to take their chances as the reason for their 2-0 loss to Newcastle United. He said (via Metro):

"We had so many expectations to believe that we could turn it around. We didn’t generate momentum, especially in the first half, the game started in the first action almost with them scoring and then the goal being denied."

"Then we had the moment, two big moments, with Martin. We didn’t capitalise and in the next action, they scored the goal and obviously the game shifted and then you need to stay cool to score a goal as early as possible."

Arteta continued:

"We didn’t manage to do that in the first half, had another big chance, and then in the second half, we started to struggle as the game went by. We didn’t generate enough situations in the final third and the game started to get away from us."

Arsenal will now shift focus to the Premier League and UEFA Champions League which are their remaining avenues for a trophy this season. They will next be in action in the league on February 15 when they trade tackles with struggling Leicester City away.