Newcastle United's Bruno Guimaraes hit with three-game ban as Eddie Howe's side reach Carabao Cup final

Eddie Howe's side beat Southampton 2-1 tonight – and 3-1 on aggregate – thanks to two goals from Sean Longstaff at St James’s Park in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.

However, Newcastle ended the game with 10 men after Bruno Guimaraes was sent off in front of the sold-out 51,975 crowd. The midfielder will miss Premier League games against West Ham United, Bournemouth and Liverpool through suspension.

Howe had fielded an unchanged team for the fifth successive game – and he kept Alexsander Isak and Allan Saint-Maximin on the bench.

New signings Anthony Gordon and Harrison Ashby were introduced on the pitch before the game to a rapturous reception. Gordon’s name was sung by fans during his short introduction following his £45million move from Everton over the weekend.

The atmosphere didn’t disappoint when the two teams came out amid a mass of black and white scarves – and nor did the start.

United took a fifth-minute lead through Longstaff. Guimaraes played the ball to Kieran Trippier on the right, and United’s captain picked out Longstaff, who placed the ball in the bottom right-hand corner.

Longstaff shot wide a couple of minutes later as Newcastle dominated the opening stages.

It got better in the 21st minute. Joe Willock broke down the left and played the ball to Miguel Almiron, who cut the ball back to Longstaff, who had timed his run to the box. Longstaff beat Bazunu with a first-time shot to make it 2-0.

There were chants of “tell me ma, me ma, I won’t be home for tea, I’m going to Wembley” in the minutes after the goal.

Southampton, however, pulled a goal back through Che Adams, who had been superbly denied by Nick Pope in the first leg. This time, there was no stopping his long-range strike, the first goal conceded by Newcastle at home since October 8, after Joe Willock gave away possession.

The visitors lost Kyle Walker-Peters to injury – he was replaced by Edozie – and United took their advantage into the break.

Nottingham Forest-bound Jonjo Shelvey made a farewell appearance on the field during the interval, and Southampton manager Nathan Jones made two more changes before the restart.

Howe sent on Isak, Saint-Maximin and Jacob Murphy after the hour-mark – off went Wilson, Almiron and Willock – with his team needing fresh legs.

United were indebted to Pope for a save from former Newcastle striker Adam Armstrong, while there was a call for a handball against Mohammed Salisu at the other end of the pitch.

Guimaraes was sent off following a pitchside VAR check after catching Edozie with a clumsy challenge, but Newcastle held on to reach their first Wembley final since 1999.

NEWCASTLE UNITED: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn, Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock (Saint-Maximin, 61), Almiron (Murphy, 61, Anderson, 90), Wilson (Isak, 61, Lascelles, 90), Joelinton. Subs not used: Darlow, Dummett, Ritchie, Lewis.

SOUTHAMPTON: Bazunu, Bree, Lyanco (Perraud, 46), Bednarek, Salisu (Mara, 88), Walker-Peters (Edozie, 36), Diallo, Alcaraz (Lavia, 46), Ward-Prowse, Armstrong, Adams. Subs not used: Caballero, Caleta-Car, Aribo, Orsic, Elyounoussi.