Eddie Howe has heaped immense praise on his players and the Geordie faithful after Newcastle’s 2-0 win in the Carabao Cup over Chelsea on Wednesday night.
First half goals courtesy of Alexander Isak and Chelsea’s Axel Disasi deflecting the ball into his own net were enough for the Mags to enact a strong measure of revenge not only for the recent defeat to Chelsea in the Premier League, but also on last season’s agonising penalty loss at Stamford Bridge in the Carabao Cup.
Speaking on the win, Howe said: “We needed a performance and a result, I think we got that tonight. Especially in the first half. It was a hallmark of us at our best. Front foot, really good energy, good feel, good quality, good attitude.
“The more games of this calibre we can win, these are the acid tests for where we want to be. We narrowly missed out against Chelsea last year for a semi-final, that was agonising for us, but fingers crossed we can go a step further this year.”
It was a much improved set of individual performances and Howe highlighted a number of players who impressed him: “I was pleased with how the midfield looked. When Joelinton and Willock play together (in front of Lewis Hall on the left) they dovetail that position really well. I’m not sure what the final solution for that is other than we have got very good players competing for positions.”
The performance now presents a welcome selection headache for Howe ahead of the crunch weekend game against Arsenal: does Joelinton start at left wing to combat the physicality of the Gunner’s right flank? Does Sandro Tonali stay at no.6 in what was arguably the best performance of his Newcastle career so far?
The win offers a welcome confidence boost for the players, with Howe adding: “That’s what we’ve been searching for for a while to be honest. It was a really strong performance. It was a big result for us: delighted to get through.”
When asked about the players turning their frustrations into positive energy, Howe added: “I thought the players did, I thought the supporters did, I thought it was a really great response.”
“We were playing a very good team tonight, I know they made a lot of changes but they were bringing in outstanding players, so this was a great win for us. It was a timely one because we knew we needed to change our momentum.”
“We know playing here brings a responsibility, I thought the players really responded to that. And now we go again in a very short time in another massive game.”
