Eddie Howe is two matches away from immortality | OneFootball

What an evening this week in North London, Eddie Howe and his Newcastle United team coming away from the Emirates Stadium with a commanding two goal lead over Arsenal, as we look Wembley bound for the second time in three seasons.

To a man, those representing NUFC were fantastic.

A defensive masterclass in the mould of those Diego Simeone Atletico Madrid sides that routinely reached Champions League Finals, with a cutting edge that saw the same two players from that other game we won in North London at the weekend, getting on the scoresheet again.

Alexander Isak is simply irresistable at the moment.

Mikel Arteta also losing the plot, as he tends to when schooled by Eddie Howe. That’s three wins in our last four meetings with Arsenal.

It’s also now seven wins from Newcastle United’s last seven in all competitions this season, just in case you haven’t been keeping up. In that little run, we’ve won at places where we rarely win, with performances that show how good United now are.

After once again defeating Arsenal, Eddie Howe suggesting that Alexander Isak was taken off as a precautionary measure. Botman also feeling his hamstring at half-time and Joe Willock had taken a knock.

Good use of substitutes by Eddie Howe as we gave the hosts nothing. Missing Bruno and Schar as well.

That two goal lead looks unassailable.

We play five games before the second leg, the most challenging of which looks to be at home to Bournemouth a week on Saturday.

Arsenal play seven before visiting St James’ Park, including two Champions League matches they dare not lose, as well as the small matter of a North London derby.

Our run of five games starts with Bromley on Sunday in the FA Cup. After the hectic programme that has propelled us to the edge of another cup final and once again serious contenders for the Champions League, I’m hoping we can rest most, if not all, of Tuesday night’s heroes, employ a generous helping of squad rotation, as the games continue to come thick and fast.

Eddie Howe is two matches away from immortality.

The first of those on 5 February 2025 just has to be managed.

At this point, I’m hoping it’s against an Arsenal who by then, will have lost all interest in the League Cup, the prospect of having to claw back a two-goal deficit in front of a partisan 52,000 at a raucous St James’ Park, being of little interest when the Premier League title and the Champions League are still very much on.

Here’s the thing though.

By early February, Arteta might well have us in his sights because the League Cup represents the only way in which he can salvage something from a season that promised so much more coming into 2025.

Whilst I think we’ll be keeping a keen eye on what they do over what remains of January, whatever the weather, I expect us to reach that Wembley final, scheduled for Sunday 16 March.

Not quite the Ides of March, but we would also need to put one of Liverpool or Tottenham to the sword to get our hands on that elusive trophy and if we do, just like Julius Caesar’s assassination changed the course of the Roman Empire, Newcastle United plundering it’s first domestic trophy in seventy years will mark a turning point in the history of English football, where once again NUFC will sit at the very top table.

I’m not going to say which one I’d prefer to meet in the final, both have strengths in abundance and if either are on their game, it’ll be a huge challenge, in all likelihood a bigger challenge than when we faced Ten Hag’s Man U

This season promises to be one where Newcastle United finally delivers after the false dawns of the Keegan and Robson eras, after also being in the doldrums for that awful period of time that preceded the arrival of Sir Edward Howe.