Burn has Toon believing
Howe’s high-flyers will fear no one in semi-final after seeing off lacklustre Leicester
IN life and in football, the journey is often better than the destination. And while Newcastle are headed for a first domestic semi-final in 18 years and, potentially, their first trophy since 1969, it is amid the electricity of nights such as this that names are stitched into the fabric of a club’s folklore. Enter Dan Burn.
He had to plead with Brighton to let him realise a boyhood dream and sign for his hometown club 12 months ago. Since then, the 6ft 6in defender has grown a few inches more, so central has he been to the club’s resurgence. The only thing that had eluded him was a goal. Until now. Not a bad time to score it, either.
Newcastle had dominated Leicester. Battered them. Much like Burn’s previous year, only a goal was missing. Then, on 60 minutes, the lad born in the shadow of Blyth Power Station just up the Northumberland coastline had a power surge of his own.
Joelinton gave him the pass, but it was hardly a scoring position, with bodies to negotiate on the left edge of the penalty area. There was, then, work to be done, and not the sort of work you expect to see from a makeshift left back.
What followed was sheer desire, the sort that can carry a team to Wembley, Burn bustling between two Leicester jerseys before applying beauty to his brawn with a low finish under the otherwise excellent Danny Ward.
The scorer wore a smile as wide as the Tyne after that. All Newcastle had to do was see out the game and Burn would feel so invincible as to walk on that famous river.
A nervy finale? You would have forgiven Newcastle for retreating given what was at stake. No chance. On they pressed and Joelinton made sure of passage to a two-legged semi-final later this month when collecting Miguel Almiron’s through-ball and slotting beyond Ward on 72 minutes.
Never mind his players, even Eddie Howe was not born the last time Newcastle contested the League Cup’s last four.
That was in 1976, when they were eventually beaten by Manchester City in the final. Malcolm Macdonald was part of that team and it illustrates the passage of time that the former striker, seated just behind Howe in the press box here, celebrated his 73rd birthday a few days ago. But how Newcastle could have done with a prime ‘Supermac’ in a first half of many chances, and just as many misses.
Howe had vowed to name his best side. He just about escaped a serious panning after making eight changes for Saturday’s FA Cup defeat at League One Sheffield Wednesday. But supporters would have arranged a run on the bank in which the head coach stores his reserves of goodwill had he done the same here.
This was his Premier League XI, and the difference between that and the understudies serves to highlight the relative infancy of Newcastle’s journey. One is strong, the other is weak.
For Leicester, even what would be considered their strongest team has looked feeble of late, and Brendan Rodgers named it here, the same crew who have sunk to three straight losses in the league.
The first of those was against Newcastle on Boxing Day. Howe insisted that game, a 3-0 win for his side, would have no bearing on what happened in this tie. Except, it did. At least in the context of both teams picking up where they left off — Newcastle organised and motivated, Leicester muddled and uninspired.
Just 43 seconds were on the clock when home midfielder Sean Longstaff slammed a shot into the ground and watched it bounce up and over the crossbar.
Newcastle had cut through Leicester, a definite theme in the early stages, and Bruno Guimaraes soon fizzed wide from the edge of the area. A range-finder, you could say. And, when the Brazilian was presented with exactly the same opening in the 15th minute, he did go closer, but not close enough, this time shaving the outside of the upright.
Longstaff then stung the palms of Ward — the goalkeeper’s gloves having somehow remained cool until the 19th minute — and Leicester survived when he paddled around the post.
In the league fixture a fortnight ago, Newcastle were 3-0 up by the 32nd minute. They should have been that and more by the same juncture this time.
But, from that, Leicester gained a little heart. Belatedly, they realised this was not a defence-versusattack training-ground exercise and decided to take part in a football match. Well, Youri Tielemans had a shot deflected on to the roof of the net. Still, progress.
Guimaraes then completed a hat-trick of 20-yard misses just before the break. At least this time he drew a save from Ward, even if it was comfortable.
The keeper was not so relaxed
seconds after the restart when Joelinton bundled his way into the area and cracked the post. Had it crept inside, a scrambling Ward was not getting there.
Nor could he have done much about Burn’s unmarked header had the defender found the target rather than the low rows of the Gallowgate End when striding unopposed on to Kieran Trippier’s free-kick in the 52nd minute.
It was a bad miss which threatened to haunt the defender. Little did he know, the stuff of dreams was just around the corner.