Newcastle moved a step closer to a first major domestic trophy since 1955 with a 2-0 victory over Arsenal in the first leg of the English League Cup semifinals Tuesday.
Goals from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon at the Emirates Stadium put Newcastle within reach of the final at Wembley Stadium in March. The second leg is at St James' Park on Feb. 5.
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Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli, right, reacts after a missed opportunity during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Newcastle's Anthony Gordon, left, is congratulated after scoring his sides second goal during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Arsenal's Kai Havertz, right, hangs on to the net after a missed opportunity on goal during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Newcastle's Alexander Isak, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Newcastle's Alexander Isak celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Newcastle's Alexander Isak, third right, on his way to scoring the opening goal during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
“It’s a great result. It’s only the first half. If we don't go through then this has no meaning, but we can't hide from the fact that this is a massive win,” Isak said.
It was Newcastle's first win at the Emirates since 2010 and Arsenal's first home defeat since April.
Isak struck in the 37th minute to continue his outstanding scoring run with his 14th goal in 15 games. The Sweden international was involved in Newcastle's second in the 51st, when his shot was saved by Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya and the rebound was converted by Gordon.
Despite being bought by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund in 2021, Newcastle hasn't won a major domestic trophy since lifting the FA Cup almost 70 years ago. But it is close to second League Cup final in three years after losing to Manchester United in 2023.
Newcastle is also pushing for a return to the Champions League after missing out last season — sitting fifth in the Premier League standings and one point outside of the qualifying places for European club soccer's elite tournament.
Victory against Arsenal was a seventh straight win in all competitions for Eddie Howe's team, which has been inspired by Isak's brilliant goal-scoring form.
He fired in off the underside of the crossbar from close range after a long free kick was played into his path by Jacob Murphy.
It was Isak's seventh goal in his last five games.
Despite in-stadium referee announcements being trialed for the match, an apparent push in the buildup to his goal did not result in referee Craig Pawson reviewing the sideline monitor.
It was Isak's sharpness that led to Newcastle's second. His effort from inside the box six minutes into the second half was parried by Raya, but Gordon was the quickest to react at the far post to fire home.
Arsenal was unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions and is second in the Premier League standings.
It had the chance to take the lead when Gabriel Martinelli burst through in the 29th and fired against the post.
Kai Havertz wasted a golden opportunity to pull a goal back when his attempted header from directly in front of goal came off his shoulder and went wide.
“We rode our luck a little bit at times, but (I’m) really pleased with the result,” Howe said.
Tottenham plays Liverpool in the other semifinal, with the first leg being staged at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday.
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli, right, reacts after a missed opportunity during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Newcastle's Anthony Gordon, left, is congratulated after scoring his sides second goal during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Arsenal's Kai Havertz, right, hangs on to the net after a missed opportunity on goal during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Newcastle's Alexander Isak, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Newcastle's Alexander Isak celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Newcastle's Alexander Isak, third right, on his way to scoring the opening goal during the English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
WASHINGTON (AP) — As stock markets tumble in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, Republicans in Congress were watching with unease and talking of clawing back their power to levy tariffs — but almost none seemed ready to turn their words into action.
The Republican president is upending longstanding GOP principles like support for free trade, yet despite clear misgivings and a Constitutional mandate to decide tariffs, most lawmakers were not ready to cross Trump. Instead, they were focusing all their attention on advancing the president's " big, beautiful bill ” of tax breaks and spending cuts, even as tariffs — in essence, import taxes — threatened to raise consumer prices across the board and push the global economy into a recession.
As the fallout from Trump's announcement reverberated around global markets, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has made it clear he is no fan of tariffs, told reporters that he would give Trump "the benefit of the doubt” in hopes that the announcement was just a scare tactic to prod foreign leaders into negotiating better trade deals with the U.S.
“The president is a dealmaker if nothing else, and he's going to continue to deal country by country with each of them,” said Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican who is no. 2 in GOP Senate leadership. He added that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had told Senate Republicans this week that the tariffs announced by Trump would be a “high level mark with the ultimate goal of getting them reduced” unless other countries retaliate.
But countries like China are already retaliating with tariffs of their own, and while the president has signaled he is open to negotiations, he was mostly sounding a defiant tone Friday, saying on social media that “MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE” while claiming that foreign investors were lining up to invest in U.S. industries. He was on the golf course Friday near his Mar-a-Lago private club in Florida.
Congress, however, was jittery.
A handful of Republicans have rebuked Trump's strategy as a foolhardy path that will burden U.S. households. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the longtime Senate leader who was the standard-bearer for past generations of Republicans, released a lengthy statement saying, “As I have always warned, tariffs are bad policy, and trade wars with our partners hurt working people most.”
McConnell and three other Republicans joined with Democrats this week to help pass a resolution that would nullify Trump's tariffs on Canada, sending a rebuke to the president just hours after his “Liberation Day” announcement. But House Speaker Mike Johnson quickly indicated he has no interest in giving the resolution a vote.
Lawmakers' struggle to act showed the divide among Republicans on trade policy, with a mostly younger group of Republicans fiercely backing Trump's strategy. Rather than heed traditional free trade doctrine, they argue for “America First” protectionism and hope it will revive U.S. manufacturing.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said that workers in his home state of Missouri were “absolutely thrilled” with the tariffs. “We've been losing jobs left and right. Farmers want to see a fair deal for our products, both in Canada and in Mexico and from the (European Union)," he added.
For their part, Democrats slammed Trump's tariffs as a reckless maneuver meant to do nothing more than raise funds for the tax breaks Trump and Republicans are trying to pass.
“Why would he raise the costs on American families by $5,000, as it’s estimated? Simply because his very wealthy billionaire friends want a greater tax break,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech Friday.
Other Republicans were looking for roundabout ways to at least check the president's power on trade policy. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a senior Republican from Iowa, introduced a bipartisan bill Thursday that would require presidents to justify new tariffs to Congress. Lawmakers would then have to approve the tariffs within 60 days, or they would expire.
Although Grassley emphasized that he had long been working on the idea, the timing of the bill was notable. It gave Republicans a chance to talk about their distaste for import taxes and raised the prospect of Congress clawing back some of its power over tariffs. The Constitution gives Congress the responsibility of setting taxes and tariffs, but over the last century, lawmakers have ceded much of their power over import taxes to the president.
A handful of Republicans said they were favorable to Grassley's proposal, though the idea of directly defying Trump seemed to squelch potential for quick action.
“I don’t want to do it in a politically charged environment,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican. “But I absolutely agree. This was set up by the Founding Fathers to be Congress’s role. And, I think we’re way past the point of what the Founding Fathers ever wanted to have happen."
Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz seized on the hesitation from Republicans, saying on social media Friday that the Senate would overwhelmingly repeal or constrain tariff authority “if every Senator voted their conscience and their state’s interest.”
“Mostly everyone hates this, they are just too afraid of the Mad King at the moment,” Schatz added.
Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, also predicted the bill would never pass “because of the voting requirements in the Senate.”
But he was still taking to social media to offer a folksy bit of advice: “Tariffs are like whiskey: A little whiskey, under the right circumstances, can be refreshing — but too much whiskey, under the wrong circumstances, can make you drunk as a goat.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., criticizes the agenda of President Donald Trump and the tactics of billionaire Elon Musk in a pivotal Wisconsin election where Democrats won, during a news conference at the Capitol, in Washington, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., attends a news conference discussing the Republican-backed budget plan at the Capitol, in Washington, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., joined by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, left, talks to reporters ahead of announcements by President Donald Trump on tariffs, at the Capitol, in Washington, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with reporters as he arrives for a closed-door strategy session with fellow Republicans ahead of announcements by President Donald Trump on tariffs, at the Capitol, in Washington, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R- Iowa, takes his seat as the panel meets to consider prescription drug pricing and other measures, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
