Newcastle reach League Cup final

London, Feb. 2: A club reborn after its Saudi-backed takeover, Newcastle is headed to a first cup final this century in a season that could also end with Champions League qualification.

Newcastle beat Southampton 2-1 on Tuesday — despite a late red card for star midfielder Bruno Guimaraes — to seal a 3-1 aggregate victory in the English League Cup semifinals, thrilling the northeast team's success-starved fans who waved black-and-white scarves while singing about going to Wembley Stadium.

The final at English soccer's national stadium is on Feb. 26 and Newcastle is likely to be facing Manchester United, which leads 3-0 from last week's first leg at Nottingham Forest. Their return game is played Wednesday.

Before that comes its first League Cup final since 1976, and a first trip to Wembley since the FA Cup final against Man United in 1999.

"You want to be in finals of competitions to increase your status and make yourself more desirable for people to join," Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said. "This is a club on the up."

The player pushing Newcastle into the final Tuesday was a local lad.

Sean Longstaff, a 25-year-old midfielder from nearby North Shields, scored in the fifth and 21st minutes at a vibrant St. James' Park to put Newcastle 3-0 ahead on aggregate, building on Joelinton's winner in the first leg in Southampton last week.

Longstaff drove home an angled shot for the first goal and then finished off a flowing team move — involving Joelinton, Joe Willock and Miguel Almiron — for an excellent second.

Che Adams pulled one back for the visitors from the south coast in the 29th, only the second goal Newcastle has conceded in all competitions since Nov. 6.

But second-half pressure failed to yield another goal for Southampton, which eliminated Manchester City in the quarterfinals.

Guimaraes was sent off in the 82nd minute for stamping on the lower leg of Southampton substitute Samuel Edozie. 

The initial awarding of a yellow card to the Brazil international was changed to a red after the referee viewed the incident on the pitchside monitor.

Guimaraes will miss Newcastle's next three games — all of which are in the Premier League — but will be available for the final.

Newcastle will head into next month's final looking to win its first major trophy since the FA Cup in 1955.

In the FA Cup, Blackburn beat fellow second-tier team Birmingham 1-0 in a fourth-round replay to set up a match against Leicester in the last 16.

Birmingham defender Auston Trusty scored an own-goal in the first half of extra time.

Holder Inter into Cup semis

Milan (AP): Inter Milan warmed up for its upcoming Serie A derby with a 1-0 victory over Atalanta in the Italian Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Defending champion Inter will face either Juventus or Lazio in a two-legged semifinal in April. Inter, which is second in the league, faces city rival AC Milan in Serie A on Sunday.

The Nerazzurri had needed a late equaliser and extra time to see off second-division Parma in the last round but had the better of the play against Atalanta, which is fourth in Serie A.

Matteo Darmian scored the only goal of the game in the 57th minute with a precise shot across into the bottom right corner.

Hakan Çalhanoğlu also hit the post for Inter four minutes before the break.

Union beat Wolfsburg 

Berlin (AP): Kevin Behrens and Robin Knoche put Union Berlin into the quarterfinals of the German Cup with a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg on Tuesday – but the team celebrated another player who didn't score.

Luca Waldschmidt gave the visitors an early lead but Knoche equalized in the 12th minute when he was left free at the back post to meet Josip Juranović's corner. Behrens got the winner in the 79th when Rani Khedira crossed for Sheraldo Becker at the back post. 

Becker headed the ball back into the center for Behrens' easy finish. It was Union's fourth win from four games in 2023. Earlier, Serhou Guirassy scored in the fifth minute of injury time for Stuttgart to progress with a 2-1 win at Paderborn. (AP)