Key events
Anthony Gordon has scored after another defensive cock-up. Gordon pressed Raya, who played a dodgy short pass into Rice. Schar sacked him – just as Rice sacked Mateo Kovacic at the weekend – and Gordon, played onside by Gabriel, swept the ball into the net.
GOAL! Newcastle 2-0 Arsenal (agg: 4-0; Gordon 52)
Newcastle are off to Wembley!
50 min In hindsight, Gordon should have put his laces through that as he had a lot of the goal to aim at. Easy to say from here though.
49 min: Just wide from Gordon! By his standards, William Saliba is having a stinker. He dithers over a pass to Raya, 45 yards from his own goal, and is robbed by Gordon. He takes the shot early, with Raya a long way out of his goal expecting the pass, but it curls just wide of the far post.
47 min Guimaraes is booked for a really poor tackle on Trossard. It was maybe halfway between a yellow and a red; the referee Simon Hooper decided on the former.
46 min Newcastle begin the second half.
Half-time reading
“Is there a heat map that covers where on the pitch players managed to have arguments and wind up the opposition?” asks Chris Paraskevas. “Because Kieran Trippier’s would be highly saturated and spread over the entirety of it. He took the Get Into Them banner message to heart…”
Half time: Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal (agg: 3-0)
Newcastle’s players are almost away to get their Wembley suits measured. They lead 3-0 on aggregate after a clinical first-half performance at St James’ Park. Alexander Isak had a spectacular early goal disallowed for a very tight offside; then, less than a minute after Martin Odegaard missed a great chance at one end, Jacob Murphy scored after another ferocious shot from Isak hit the post.
Newcastle went into game-management mode after that, frustrating Arsenal by fair means and foul, and Martin Dubravka had only one save to make from Leandro Trossard. The half-time whistle came at a good time for Arsenal, who were starting to lose both their way and their rag.
45+2 min Tonali sprays a long pass out to Gordon. He moves into the area, then goes down the line and slides a shot that is put behind by the stretching Saliba. Newcastle have been such a threat on the counter-attack.
45+1 min Gordon, who has had an excellent half, ignores a sliding challenge from Rice, cuts inside on the edge of the area and shapes a curling shot that goes not far wide of the far post.
45 min Nwaneri slaloms into the area and slides a low cross towards Havertz at the near post. Botman gets there first to make a vital clearance.
Five minutes of added time.
44 min Gordon spins behind Saliba, who pulls him back off the ball and is booked. As Gary Neville says on Sky, it’s hard to remember Saliba looking as rattled as he has in this first half.
43 min Newcastle have managed the game excellently, giving Arsenal a taste of their own medicine in some ways.
42 min Havertz shovers Guimaraes over – those two have history – and then pushes Trippier. He’s booked.
40 min Nwaneri skips dangerously outside Hall on the right only to overhit his cross.
39 min Arsenal had a very good spell straight after the goal but in the last few minutes Newcastle have looked more comfortable. Or maybe less uncomfortable.
38 min Martinelli is moving freely enough round the touchline so it might just be a precaution.
37 min: Arsenal substitution Gabriel Martinelli has a muscle injury and is trudging off. Ethan Nwaneri replaces him.
36 min Hall’s nice free-kick is dragged wide by the off-balance Schar. Not much of a chance.
33 min Arsenal have had around 75 per cent possession, and that includes the first 10 minutes when they were under the cosh. But there have only been two chances of note, Odegaard’s shot against the outside of the post and Dubravka’s save from Trossard.
31 min Trippier leaves a bit on Gabriel, who shoves him away angrily. These two don’t care much for each other.
30 min Arsenal are playing with a tempo and desperation usually reserved for the last 10 minutes of a game. If they can get to 1-1 by half-time they’ll be happy enough.
27 min When Alan Shearer, Newcastle’s greatest No9, scored a vicious winner against Poland at Wembley, Alex Ferguson said he struck the ball “like he wanted to kill it”. That came to mind with Isak’s two shots tonight – not least because I think he sidefooted them both, yet they were hit with ferocious power.
25 min Arsenal have a couple of corners on the right, both taken by Odegaard. The second drops dangerously in the six-yard box before being booted clear by Trippier.
23 min Arsenal haven’t given this up. Havertz gets to the byline and screws a good ball towards Trossard, whose snap shot is really well saved by the diving Dubravka. He didn’t have much reaction time but got down to his right to keep it out.
21 min In a sense that was a two-goal swing because Odegaard was inches away from making it 2-1 on aggregate. From the resulting goalkick, Murphy made it 3-0.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal (agg: 3-0, Murphy 20)
More sensational play from Alexander Isak! He wins a goalkick ahead of Saliba and flicks it to Gordon on the left. Gordon’s pass – possibly intended for Murphy – is thighed into the space by Isak, who then thunders a left-foot curler against the post just outside the area. It rebounds across goal to Murphy, who gleefully puts it into the empty net.
19 min: Great chance for Odegaard! Moments after having a shot well blocked by Botman, Odegaard hits the post from 12 yards. The referee played an excellent advantage when Martinelli was fouled in the D; the ball ran through to Odegaard, who cut across it with his right foot and hit the outside of the post.
16 min Dubravka dawdles on the ball and is very close to being robbed, I think by Trossard. In the end he did well to dig out a clearance with the ball almost behind him.
15 min Murphy plays a give-and-go on the right but overhits his deep cross towards Hall, who can only volley it into the side netting from a prohibitive angle. Murphy’s cross might have gone out of play anyway.
