Newcastle advanced to the Carabao Cup Final after getting by Southampton in the semis. The hosts on the night collected a 2-1 victory, bringing the aggregate scoreline of the semi-final to 3-1. It will be the club’s first cup final since 1999, an FA Cup Final loss to treble-winning Manchester United.

The Magpies entered Tuesday’s match with an advantage. Newcastle beat Southampton in the first leg of the semi-final thanks to a lone Joelinton goal. Saints defender Duje Caleta-Car was sent off late in last week’s match to end any hopes of a comeback.

Unlikely scorer sends Newcastle through to Carabao Cup Final

Newcastle quickly extended its lead in the tie with a goal inside five minutes on Tuesday night. Sean Longstaff put the hosts ahead after a nice give-and-go with teammate Kieran Trippier. Bruno Guimarães started the sequence with a nice bit of skill to get the ball moving towards goal. Longstaff found Trippier, who put a pass back to the midfielder. Longstaff finished off the move with a neat finish into the bottom corner of the net.

Although Longstaff doesn’t score very often, he was not done on the night. The 25-year-old midfielder doubled his team’s lead about 16 minutes later. Miguel Almiron squared a searching ball inside the box which happened to find Longstaff. The pass was more to a dangerous area on the pitch rather than to an actual player. Nevertheless, Longstaff scored his second goal of the night. He entered the match with just one goal during the current campaign.

Adams grabs a goal back for Southampton

Southampton, however, responded with a goal eight minutes later. A sloppy back pass from Joe Willock found Che Adams near the edge of the penalty box. The Scottish international hit a spectacular shot from distance passed the diving Nick Pope.

Guimarães was sent off after a terrible challenge with about 10 minutes left on the clock. The Brazilian put in a dangerously high tackle and was shown a red card after VAR intervention. However, the visiting Saints could not capitalize on the man advantage and lost the fixture.

Newcastle were previously beaten 2-0 by Manchester United in their last cup final match 24 years ago. The two sides could very well face off again for the upcoming Carabao Cup final this year. United are currently ahead of Nottingham Forest 3-0 after the first leg of their matchup.

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