Eddie Howe says Newcastle were keen to put pressure on Arsenal’s central defenders (Getty)
Eddie Howe has revealed that Newcastle United targeted William Saliba and Gabriel during their 2-0 victory over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi final.
Newcastle already held a 2-0 lead on aggregate from their win in the first leg of their semi final at the Emirates Stadium last month and went on to book their place at Wembley with the same victory at St James’ Park on Wednesday night.
Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon scored Newcastle’s goals, meanwhile, Alexander Isak delivered another impressive performance up against Arsenal’s two central defenders.
Howe, whose side will play either Liverpool or Tottenham in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on March 16, says he was keen to target Saliba and Gabriel once again following their struggles in the first leg and also praised Fabian Schar in his efforts to stop Declan Rice breaking through from midfield.
‘The work started on Monday, which is quick. The Champions League last year helped us to work on those two-day turnarounds. We do tweak things depending on the opposition,’ Howe said.
‘We felt we needed more height in the team, we wanted solidity at the back and we had to change in order to win the game.
Jacob Murphy scored Newcastle’s opener at St James’ Park (Getty)
‘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.
‘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.
Newcastle will play either Liverpool or Tottenham in the Carabao Cup final (Reuters)
‘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.
‘We had to work on set plays as their set play threat is so high. In the reverse fixture there were some moments where we got a bit lucky. Again our team selection was based on having height, especially without Joelinton, we needed Dan Burn, Fabian Schar and Sven Botman. We defended the set plays really well today.’
Meanwhile, Gordon also revealed that Howe instructed him to alter his position in order to put more pressure on Arsenal’s two central defenders.
‘Everyone knows we don’t change much. We are always going to press and try to put teams under pressure,’ Gordon told BBC 5 Live.
‘The gaffer altered it a little bit, I played inside a bit more, and they struggled with it on the counter attack because they’ll couldn’t really pick me and Murph up and Alex [Isak] does what Alex does. I think the gaffer deserves all the credit.’
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