Alan Shearer could not help but enjoy Newcastle United's 2-0 win over Arsenal. Eddie Howe's side have booked their place in March's Carabao Cup final after beating the Gunners 4-0 on aggregate.

Following a 2-0 success from the first leg at the Emirates, Newcastle started on the front foot in an attempt to score the first goal and they thought they had done just that. In the fourth minute, Alexander Isak slotted home into the top corner, only for VAR to rule it out for an offside in the build-up.

That, however, didn't stop the Magpies' momentum and they did finally take the lead in the 19th minute - 90 seconds after Martin Odegaard had hit the post. Jacob Murphy was the goalscorer, slotting home from close range after Isak's wicked left-footed drive smacked the inside of the post.

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In fact, Isak ran Arsenal's defensive pair, Gabriel and William Saliba, ragged throughout the opening 45 minutes and Newcastle legend Shearer recognised that.

During the first half, Shearer made fun of former Arsenal striker Ian Wright and highlighted Isak's role to disrupt the partnership of Gabriel and Saliba. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Shearer said: "Hey @IanWright0 talk to me about our boy Isak against your 2 centre backs!!! #NEWARS."

Then after the final whistle, Shearer took to social media once more to credit Newcastle for running out 2-0 winners on the night and 4-0 on aggregate, with Anthony Gordon scoring their second in the second half.

"That was a proper performance man," Shearer said on X. "Arsenal couldn’t live with the intensity.

"Better than them tonight in every position," alongside eight clapping emojis, two black love heart emojis and two white love heart emojis.

Meanwhile, Eddie Howe praised his side's performance in his post-match press conference. He said: "We were always going to play the same way. We were brave, aggressive, everything we wanted to be.

"We haven't gone there yet [talking of the final]. Just very pleased to have got through this tie. Physically I thought we were much better this evening. A really good performance."

Howe added: "It's easy to talk about it but the players have to execute it under that pressure. I understood questions about nerves but we tried to approach it as any other game.

"It's an amazing feeling. I'm very proud to lead the club on a night like this. It's been a great night for us."