Eddie Howe says he instructed Newcastle players to target two Arsenal stars and it worked

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Newcastle picked up a convincing win against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg.

The Gunners went into the game two goals down after losing the first leg at the Emirates. It was always going to be difficult at St James’ Park, but there was hope.

Arsenal’s big win against Manchester City at the weekend made many fans believe that their side could turn things around, but that did not happen.

Newcastle deservedly beat Arsenal and have booked a place in the final of the Carabao Cup. Their manager, Eddie Howe, deserves praise.

Eddie Howe says Newcastle United targeted William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes

William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are among the best defenders on the planet.

The Arsenal duo helped maintain the best defence in the Premier League last season, and they aren’t far off from that crown in this campaign as well.

Even though Erling Haaland scored against Arsenal on Sunday, Saliba and Gabriel dealt with him quite comfortably for large parts of the game.

However, on Wednesday night, Alexander Isak made the two Arsenal defenders look average and ran them ragged.

After the game, Howe admitted that it was a plan to target Gabriel and Saliba and put pressure on them from the first minute. That, as we all saw, worked perfectly.

He told Sky Sports: “We wanted to get pressure on them and in order to get that tactically, you have to let the players feel confident doing it in the right areas and that was the way we decided to do it.

“Still, the players have to execute it and you’re up against elite players that one mistake, it can be difficult.”

Mikel Arteta would’ve learnt a very important lesson vs Newcastle

Newcastle were excellent against Arsenal, and Howe deserves a lot of praise for the way he set his side out to play on Wednesday night.

Almost every single Toon player was outstanding, but the best on the pitch was Isak.

We haven’t seen any striker in the world cause Gabriel and Saliba as many problems as Isak has in the three games he has faced them this season. Not even Harry Kane troubled the Gunners duo this much.

Even Arteta hailed Isak after the game.

If the Swede can do this to the best defensive partnership in world football, imagine how good he can be if he joins forces with Arsenal in the summer.

The biggest takeaway from the game for Arteta must be to convince the Arsenal board to do everything in their power to sign Isak for next season.