Arsenal fans say Eddie Howe did something 'disrespectful' in Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg loss to Newcastle

Yesterday at 05:07 PM

Arsenal have a mountain to climb in in the Carabao Cup semi-finals after losing 2-0 to Newcastle United in their first-leg encounter at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners were hoping to make the most of the first leg being at home to record a good result ahead of next month’s second leg at St James’ Park.

Instead, Arsenal were beaten by a clinical Newcastle side that will now be favourites to reach the final at Wembley.

In-form Magpies striker Alexander Isak opened the scoring in the 37th minute with his 10th goal in just nine games.

Then, Anthony Gordon doubled Newcastle’s lead in the 51st minute, with a wasteful Arsenal outfit unable to get back into the game.

Indeed, some Gunners fans believe Magpies boss Eddie Howe did something “disrespectful” which showed how confident he was in his side’s ability to see out the game.

Arsenal fans stunned by Eddie Howe decision to withdraw Alexander Isak early

Howe decided to withdraw Isak in the 65th minute of the game, which raised eyebrows among fans of both sides.

It’s not very often that managers withdraw their biggest attacking threat so early in a crucial game, but it proved an inspired decision by Howe.

Arsenal fans on X claimed that this was a damning indictment of their team’s woes in front of goal.

One fan said: “The fact that both Isak and Gordon have been taken off in our backyard with another 15 mins to go is so disrespectful.”

Another said: “They've taken off Isak… they’ve won.”

The comments kept coming, with one fan writing: “Isak getting subbed should let you know exactly what Howe thinks of Arteta btw.”

Another said: “Isak being subbed. They are obviously confident they can see this out. The way we are finishing they probably will.”

And one wrote: “Eddie Howe feeling like he could take off Isak after an hour was damning. He knew we weren't getting back into this.”

How the media rated Isak display v Arsenal

The Shields Gazette gave Isak a 9 out of 10 for his efforts against Arsenal.

‘Led the line well with some excellent passing to release his teammates and some driving runs forward,’ they wrote.

‘Capped off a magnificent first half display with yet another goal – his 50th for the club.

‘Played a key role in the second goal with his shot being saved before Gordon tapped in.

‘Withdrawn with 25 minutes left to play. Simply unplayable at the moment.’

The second leg between Newcastle and Arsenal is scheduled to kick off at 8pm GMT on Wednesday 5 February at St James’ Park.