Arsenal have a tough task to accomplish when they face Newcastle United in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup second leg, so they might need luck and decisions to go their way.
Travelling to St. James’ Park, the Gunners must simply score three goals without reply to advance to March’s Wembley Stadium final, or at least net twice to take the tie to extra time.
That was because during the first leg at the Emirates Stadium, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon both grabbed goals to give Newcastle the advantage.
There was little controversy to report from that encounter; it was a simple case of one team turning up on the night. For Arsenal, that must be the opposite way around in the second leg.
Thankfully, if there are any contentious points during the meeting, then they can take comfort from the fact that video assistant referees (VAR) will be in use, as they were during the first leg in North London.
The team of officials for Arsenal and Newcastle’s second consists of referee Simon Hooper, assistants Adrian Holmes and Simon Long and fourth official Thomas Bramall. The VAR will be John Brooks and his assistant is Nick Hopton, as per the EFL.
It is also not to be forgotten that the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, like the first, will employ first-of-its-kind measures for the officials. They will be allowed to announce any VAR decisions to supporters watching inside the stadium via tannoy.
Gunners and Magpies fans at the Emirates Stadium last month did not experience this as there were no incidents to review. It was, however, used in the first leg of the other semi-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.
Prior to Tottenham’s winning goal to take a 1-0 lead at Anfield on Thursday, Dominic Solanke had seen a goal ruled out for offside.
Referee Stuart Atwell announced: “After a review, Dominic Solanke was in an offside position in the build-up to the goal. Final decision is offside.”
