Eddie Howe reflects on Newcastle 2 Fulham 1 and United making it 3 League Cup semi-finals in 4 years

Eddie Howe has been reflecting after watching his much changed Newcastle United side ease past Fulham.

Six outfield changes to the Newcastle team to the starting eleven that had lost on Sunday.

Eddie Howe admitting that; “It was important to bounce back from Sunderland, to come back in a positive fashion.”

The United boss very happy to get what was a very much deserved victory; “Back on home soil we controlled the game and we deserved to win. [Substitute] Sandro’s Tonali drive from midfield was key and it shows that we have got quality players. We controlled the game well because they are a dangerous transition team and we dealt with that well.”

The Newcastle United players showing great commitment and battling to the end, eventually getting a deserved 92nd minute winner via Lewis Miley’s header.

Eddie Howe on the talented teenager;  “A brilliant performance from a talented young player. He hasn’t played right-back a lot and he had to take on a lot of information this morning, so he did really well. He is here on merit. He believes that he is more than good enough to play at this level, not just play but excel. He is taking his game to another level and I think we are seeing that now.”

No arguments from me on that one and Miley only ranked behind an extraordinary effort from Bruno Guimaraes, as the captain led his much changed team brilliantly and helped carry them over the line.

The victory sends United through to the League Cup semi-finals for a third time in the space of four seasons, a remarkable achievement by Eddie Howe.

In the 60+ years before he arrived at Newcastle United, the club’s record in the League Cup was beyond embarrassing, only one previous semi-final.

Eddie Howe desperate to keep this astonishing League Cup record going; “We want to be competitive and we want to win trophies. We had a great experience last year in this one,= and we want to do that again. It will be tough though with the teams left in the competition. The will and drive to win was there and we gave everything, even in the difficult moments. The challenge is to grow and improve.”

Great to see Yoane Wissa get his first goal as well, plus the striker gave us plenty of encouragement that there will be many more to follow. Eddie Howe loving it; “A really positive night for Yoane, in lots of ways. He took his goal really well and he will only get better for the minutes.”

One of the few negatives though, was seeing Tino Livramento forced off the pitch through injury: “It doesn’t look good. The fact he came off is a worrying sign. We are so stretched in that area so it would be a problem.”

With so many defensive injuries, Eddie Howe asked about the possibility of recalling Matt Targett from his loan spell at Middlesbrough; “We will make the decision closer to the date that we have to. Certainly, at the moment, I don’t have many more rabbits to pull out the hat, so let’s see. At the moment we are in dangerous territory.”

Newcastle 2 Fulham 1 – Wednesday 17 December 2025 8.15pm

Match Stats

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Wissa 10,  Miley 90+2

Fulham:

Lukic 16

Possession was Newcastle 61% Fulham 39%

Total shots were Newcastle 14 Fulham 6

Shots on target were Newcastle 6 Fulham 3

Corners were Newcastle 5 Fulham 5

Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 36 Fulham 15

Newcastle team v Fulham:

Ramsdale, Livramento (Alex Murphy 76), Thiaw, Schar, Ramsey, Willock (Tonali 72), Miley, Bruno, Jacob Murphy(Elanga 85), Barnes (Gordon 85), Wissa (Woltemade 72)

Unused subs:

Ruddy, Joelinton, Shahar, Neave