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.
Click to Gallery
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)
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Days of unrelenting heavy rain and storms that killed at least 18 people worsened flooding as some rivers rose to near-record levels Monday and inundated towns across an already saturated U.S. South and parts of the Midwest.
Cities ordered evacuations and rescue crews in inflatable boats checked on residents in Kentucky and Tennessee, while utilities shut off power and gas in a region stretching from Texas to Ohio.
“I think everybody was shocked at how quick (the river) actually did come up,” said salon owner Jessica Tuggle, who was watching Monday as murky brown water approached her business in Frankfort, Kentucky, the state capital along the swollen Kentucky River.
She said that as each new wave of rain arrived over the weekend, anxious residents hoped for a reprieve so they could just figure out how bad things would get. She and friends packed up her salon gear, including styling chairs, hair products and electronics, and took it to a nearby tap house up the hill.
“Everybody was just ‘stop raining, stop raining’ so we could get an idea of what the worst situation would be,” she said.
Officials diverted traffic and turned off utilities to businesses in the city as the river was expected to approach a record crest Monday.
Ashley Welsh and her husband and four children had to quickly depart their Frankfort home along the river Saturday evening, leaving a lifetime of belongings later submerged by floodwaters.
When she awoke to water coming into their house early Saturday, Welsh woke everyone up and they packed their truck. They alerted guests to leave an Airbnb they own down the road, packed up the Airbnb and then helped her sister, who lives next to the Airbnb, evacuate. After they took a short nap at their house, the water had risen.
“By the time we woke up, there was already three feet of water that we had to wade through to get out,” she said.
They packed a suitcase and escaped from the rising water and went to a local hotel. One daughter carried two cats through water to safety and their black Labrador dog had to swim, as they stayed close to make sure no one got swept away.
The water rose up to their second floor. By Sunday morning, she checked her house's cameras.
“My stuff was floating around in the living room. I was just heartbroken. Our life is up there,” Welsh said.
The 18 reported deaths since the storms began on Wednesday included 10 in Tennessee. A 9-year-old boy in Kentucky was caught up in floodwaters while walking to catch his school bus. A 5-year-old boy in Arkansas died after a tree fell on his family’s home, police said. A 16-year-old volunteer Missouri firefighter died in a crash while seeking to rescue people caught in the storm.
The National Weather Service warned Sunday that dozens of locations in multiple states were expected to reach a “major flood stage,” with extensive flooding of structures, roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure possible.
In north-central Kentucky, emergency officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for Falmouth and Butler, towns near the bend of the rising Licking River. Thirty years ago, the river reached a record 50 feet (15 meters), resulting in five deaths and 1,000 homes destroyed.
The Kentucky River was cresting at Frankfort Lock at 48.27 feet (14.71 meters) on Monday morning, just shy of the record of 48.5 feet (14.78 meters) set there on Dec. 10, 1978, according to CJ Padgett, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Louisville, Kentucky, office. While other areas are in major flood stage, the forecasted crest for this location is closest to its record.
Carroll County Deputy Judge-Executive Michael Humphrey in Kentucky has ordered mandatory evacuations in some places, warning that a “significant flooding event of which history has never seen” is expected.
More than 100 structures were destroyed in McNairy County, Tennessee, where a tornado tore through the town of Selmer with winds estimated up to 160 mph (257 kph), local emergency management officials said. State officials have confirmed five people were killed by the severe weather in the county of roughly 26,100 residents.
The storms come after the Trump administration cut jobs at NWS forecast offices, leaving half of them with vacancy rates of about 20%, or double the level of a decade ago.
Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong winds and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.
The NWS said 5.06 inches (nearly 13 centimeters) of rain fell Saturday in Jonesboro, Arkansas — making it the wettest day ever recorded in April in the city. Memphis, Tennessee, received 14 inches (35 centimeters) of rain from Wednesday to Sunday, the NWS said.
Rives, a northwestern Tennessee town of about 200 people, was almost entirely underwater after the Obion River overflowed.
Domanic Scott went to check on his father in Rives after not hearing from him in a house where water reached the doorstep.
“It’s the first house we’ve ever paid off. The insurance companies around here won’t give flood insurance to anyone who lives in Rives because we’re too close to the river and the levees. So if we lose it, we’re kind of screwed without a house,” Scott said.
In Dyersburg, Tennessee, dozens of people arrived over the weekend at a storm shelter near a public school clutching blankets, pillows and other necessities. Just days earlier the city was hit by a tornado that caused millions of dollars in damage.
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in New York; Kimberlee Kruesi and Jonathan Mattise, in Nashville, Tennessee; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Adrian Sainz in Memphis; Tennessee; Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Obed Lamy in Rives, Tennessee; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago.
The rising Ohio River partially submerges the bronze statue of James Bradley along Riverside Drive, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Covington, Ky. Cincinnati and the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge are seen across the Ohio River. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A Canadian goose swims in the rising Ohio River at the intersection of River Riverside Place and Ben Bernstein Place, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Covington, Ky., across the river from Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Carole Smith walks through her flooded home on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Search and rescue firefighters carry a boat to a flooded neighborhood on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A flooded neighborhood is seen on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Road crews work to clear Lee County Rd. 681 in Saltillo, Miss, Sunday, April 6, 2025, of downed trees that blocked the road following the severe weather that passed through the area Saturday night. (Thomas Wells /The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)
CORRECTS TO MICHAEL NOT MICHALE Michael Scott Memering looks out of his trailer after evacuating the Licking River RV Campground that was flooded by the rising waters of the Licking River, seen behind, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Falmouth, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Bill Jones pulls his boat ashore, filled with bottles of bourbon, from a flooded home near the banks of the Kentucky River on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Search and rescue firefighters conduct wellness checks in a neighborhood on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Abner Wagers stands near flooded homes in the rising waters of the Kentucky River in Monterey, Ky,. Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The flooded downtown area is seen on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Search and rescue firefighters speak to a resident in a flooded neighborhood on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A group of people survey damage at Pounders Mobile Home Park following a strong line of storms in the area in Muscle Shoals, Ala, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Dan Busey/The TimesDaily via AP)
Search and rescue firefighters conduct wellness checks in a neighborhood on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Abner Wagers walks in the rising waters of the Kentucky River on a flooded Monterey Pike in Monterey, Ky., Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Abner Wagers, right, and Brayden Baker, both with the Monterey Volunteer Fire Department, walk in the rising waters of the Kentucky River near a flooded home in Monterey, Ky., Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
the rising waters of Cedar Creek and the Kentucky River overflow their banks, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Monterey, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
