THE comparisons between Alexander Isak and Thierry Henry are frequent and obvious.
And here, against the club where the great Frenchman became Invincible, Newcastle’s lethal Swede sent his side to the brink of a second Carabao Cup Final in three years.
Just a month ago, the Geordie Arabia revolution seemed to have stalled.
After a miserable beating at Brentford, Eddie Howe’s men were marooned in the bottom half of the Premier League table with the club’s spending plans frustrated by Profit and Sustainability Rules.
The turnaround since has been staggering – seven straight victories, powered by Isak’s goals.
Like Henry, he is tall, languid, dangerous coming off the left flank and dead-eyed in front of goal.
Here, he netted a tenth goal in nine appearances, then produced the shot which led to Anthony Gordon’s second.
Arsenal’s hopes in the second leg – which is, ridiculously, being staged four weeks from now on February 5 – are slim, approaching zero.
This was a hideous night for Mikel Arteta who saw his own set-piece specialists concede from the most basic of up-and-under free-kicks.
The Gunners dominated possession and the shot count but were hopeless in both boxes.
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Without Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard seems to lack spark and Arsenal are often prone to looking bang average in attack.
Arsenal have seven fixtures in three different competitions before the return leg. Perhaps this will give them time to forget what a disaster this first leg had been.
Arsenal haven’t won the League Cup for 32 years, while Newcastle have never got their hands on the trophy.
And while Arteta has propelled the Gunners into title contention over the previous couple of seasons, his side haven’t won any silverware since his old mate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired them to the FA Cup in 2020.
Howe’s men, who had racked up countless celebratory dressing-room teamshots on their recent winning run – were without the suspended Bruno Guimaraes but it scarcely seemed to matter.
After dropping points at Brighton on Saturday, the Gunners welcomed back Kai Havertz, who’d missed the previous two matches through illness.
The clashes between these two sides became extremely heated over the past couple – Arteta spewing that his side had been robbed at St James’ Park last season.
Early on, Joelinton spooned a shot over early on, then William Saliba had a shot blocked by Dan Burn.
The Geordie alarm bells started ringing when Arsenal won one of their dreaded corners – Declan Rice whipped an in-swinger and Jurrien Timber rose to head over from close range.
It was end to end and compelling. Soon, Isak was wriggling free and teeing up Lewis Hall for a shot which Saliba hacked clear.
Arsenal had been struggling to break down Newcastle’s defence but when they were able to sit deep and launch a counter, Arteta’s men were inches away from the lead.
Leandro Trossard released Gabriel Martinelli, who galloped clear from the halfway line and drilled a shot against the post.
When another Rice corner arrived, Toon keeper Martin Dubravka dropped it, causing an almighty scramble with Timber attempting a back-heel Sven Botman making a saving block from Havertz.
So it was against the run of play when Newcastle grabbed the lead, Martin Dubravka punted a free-kick forward, Botman won a header and Jacob Murphy was able to tee up Isak to ram home off the underside of the bar.
Arsenal’s defending resembled a game of musical statues – freeze when the ball comes close – and Arteta was raging on the touchline.
His side have earned many comparisons with Tony Pulis’ Stoke, due to their attacking set-piece prowess but that bruising Potters side would never have conceded this goal.
For Isak, it was a 50th Newcastle strike in just 89 appearances.
Joelinton was booked for chopping down Thomas Partey on the edge of the Newcastle box but Odegaard planted the resulting free-kick into the wall.
It summed up a frustrating first half for the hosts.
But far worse was to come at the start of the second half, when Murphy picked out Isak with a sweet pass and the Swede’s shot, bound for the far corner, was pushed out by David Raya, only as far as Gordon who beat Timber to poke home the rebound.
Once more Arsenal’s defending left much to be desired.
Havertz was soon heading wide, seemingly in slow motion, when Trossard located him four yards out.
Arteta sent for Gabriel Jesus and Jorginho but his side continued to pass up opportunities and began to run out of ideas.
Newcastle froze when they faced Manchester United in the final of this competition two years ago.
But unless there is a miracle in that distant second leg, the Toon Army will be marching on Wembley again with genuine hope of a first major trophy in 56 years.
