Newcastle brush Leicester aside to reach first League Cup semi-final for 47 Years 

ON THE MARK: Newcastle United’s Dan Burn (left) celebrates. Pic: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire.

Newcastle United 2 Leicester City 0 

Who cares about an embarrassing FA Cup third-round exit now? 

Four days after Newcastle United had been humiliated at Hillsborough, they bounced back in emphatic fashion to reach their first League Cup semi-final for 47 years. As far as responses go, it wasn’t exactly a bad one.

Dan Burn, a boyhood Newcastle fan who was raised on a diet of Champions League football under Sir Bobby Robson, celebrated his first Magpies goal in style as he slotted home the opener in front of a jubilant Gallowgate End on the hour mark.

Joelinton added a second goal 12 minutes later, and having dominated for much of the evening, only to come up against an inspired Danny Ward in the Leicester goal, Newcastle had the cushion their bright attacking display deserved.

Leicester substitute Jamie Vardy wasted two good chances to haul his side back into the game, failing to find the target from good positions inside the 18-yard box, but this was the Magpies’ night. A club that previously admitted to ‘not taking the cup competitions seriously’ under Mike Ashley suddenly find themselves just a two-legged semi-final win away from a long-awaited return to Wembley.

Prior to kick-off, Eddie Howe had warned his Newcastle side not to expect a repeat of Boxing Day, which had seen them cruise to victory over Leicester at the King Power Stadium after scoring two goals in the opening seven minutes. Fifteen days on, and while the Magpies did not find the net, they could easily have scored twice in the first 180 seconds.

Sean Longstaff failed to find the target when he should really have scored from eight yards out after Joe Willock cut the ball into his path from the byline, before Bruno Guimaraes whistled a low shot narrowly wide after his Brazilian compatriot, Joelinton, rolled the ball into his path. The pair combined again on the quarter-hour mark, with an identical outcome.

Leicester were rocking amid a typically intense St James’ Park atmosphere, but the visitors just about managed to hold firm with their goalkeeper, Ward, producing a fine first-half save as he clawed Longstaff’s goal-bound effort around the post.

To the Foxes’ credit, they gradually settled into the game after quelling Newcastle’s initial fury, and they might have found themselves in an even better position had Patson Daka not inexplicably tried to square the ball instead of attempting to get a shot away after Timothy Castagne released him into the box. Brendan Rodgers, gesticulating wildly on the sidelines, certainly seemed to have been anticipating an effort on target.

Guimaraes had been equally wasteful for much of the first half, and while the Newcastle midfielder finally forced Ward into a save on the stroke of half-time, his driven effort was much too close to the Leicester goalkeeper to make it a testing stop.

Ward was an effective last line of defence all night, and he produced another crucial intervention in the opening minute of the second half. Joelinton’s low shot was creeping in after flicking off Marc Albrighton’s foot, but Ward threw himself to his right to touch the ball onto the base of the post. Eight minutes later, and he was in the thick of things again, parrying Longstaff’s sliding effort around the upright as his save count continued ticking upwards.

It was going to take something to beat the Leicester keeper, and it arrived via Burn’s right foot on the hour mark. Receiving Joelinton’s pass, the full-back burst between two Leicester defenders before slotting a superb right-footed finish across Ward and into the far corner.

A second goal arrived to settle things, with Joelinton breaking onto Almiron’s pass before slotting a low finish into the same corner Burn had found 12 minutes earlier.

Vardy might have made things interesting had he found the net with either of the opportunities that fell his way in the space of five minutes as Leicester threatened on the counter-attack, but the substitute was wasteful on each occasion.

Newcastle (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Guimaraes, Longstaff, Willock (Murphy 90); Almiron (Saint-Maximin 84), Wilson (Isak 78), Joelinton.

Subs (not used): Darlow (gk), Manquillo, Lascelles, Anderson, Ritchie, Wood.

Leicester (4-2-3-1): Ward; Castagne, Amartey, Faes, Thomas (Iheanacho 64); Ndidi, Tielemans; Albrighton, Perez (Mendy 84), Barnes; Daka (Vardy 64).

Subs (not used): Iverson (gk), Soyuncu, Vestergaard, Brunt, Braybrooke, McAteer.

Referee: Darren England