Five things we learned from Newcastle's clinical Carabao Cup fourth round win over Tottenham at St James' Park
Newcastle United booked their place in a fourth successive Carabao Cup quarter-final with an impressive 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.
Fabian Schar opened the scoring with a fine header in the first half, prompting a furious response from Spurs boss Thomas Frank on the touchline with Djed Spence out of position after tying his shoe lace.
Both teams created plenty of chances after that but it was Newcastle who found the second goal, with Nick Woltemade bagging his sixth goal for the club with a glancing header from Joe Willock's cross.
It means Newcastle can begin to dream of another Wembley final with a quarter-final at home to Fulham in December to look forward to.
Here are five things we learned from today's game.
Newcastle crowd taunts as Magpies could get last laugh
As Newcastle coasted towards the full-time whistle, the Toon Army couldn't help but get a dig in, not only towards Tottenham but to Liverpool, too.
Spurs brought a huge away following and, to their credit, they made plenty of noise in level seven to contribute to a cracking atmosphere under the St James' Park lights.
But as they started to flood out before full-time, the Gallowgate End launched into a brutal rendition of: "It's a long way to London when you're s***."
After the full-time whistle, the stadium PA took great joy in reading out Liverpool's scoreline after Arne Slot's side slumped to a 3-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace.
It prompted a huge roar from the Newcastle fans, who had just watched their team win for a fifth time in their last six matches.
Howe gamble pays off
Eddie Howe warned before the game that he needed to get minutes in the legs of some players who perhaps haven't featured as much this season but insisted he retained full faith in his squad to continue the defence of their Carabao Cup title.
Howe made eight changes to his side with only Malick Thiaw, Dan Burn - who captained the side and Woltemade retaining their places in the starting XI who beat Fulham 2-1 on Saturday.
And it was a test they ultimately passed. A number of players rose to the challenge. Schar scored, Aaron Ramsdale was brilliant and we could continue naming others, too.
Howe has always wanted strong competition for places at Newcastle. Now he has it.
Addictive feeling breeds success
Jacob Murphy may not have played in the game but he set the tone with his pre-match comments in the matchday programme.
"The motivation in the squad is really high to win this competition again. We got a taste of it last year: it's addictive, that feeling of success," Murphy said of the importance of trying to retain the Carabao Cup.
"To be able to create those moments for the fans and also for us on our footballing journey, it's amazing to feel connected to something with a larger purpose.
"We want to do well in all cups but this one holds a special place for us because it's the first one we won as a group and the first one we've won in a long time."
That motivation was apparent in the performance as Newcastle hustled and harried their opponents and created a number of opportunities to win by more than the two-goal scoreline.
They are now just two more wins from a third League Cup final in four years and another shot at Wembley glory.
Frank superiority
Heading into the game, Howe had only lost once to a Thomas Frank side in nine matches, winning seven of them.
But that record was entirely made up of Newcastle's clashes against Brentford and this was a totally different test with Frank in the Spurs dugout after succeeding Ange Postecoglou in North London in the summer.
The teams may have changed but the outcome remained the same as Howe racked up another win against his highly rated rival. It was another feather in his cap against a top manager.
Endurance man's run continues
Dan Burn is Newcastle's most used player this season, missing just one match so far - the third round Carabao Cup win over Bradford.
Burn had played all 1080 minutes of the 12 matches he had started this season and that run continued with another 90 minutes under his belt in the win over Spurs.
It was perhaps his best performance at left-back, too, with him posing a big attacking threat both in the air and on the ball down Newcastle's left-hand side.
Whether he plays at centre-back or at left-back, he rarely lets Newcastle down. As the debate rages on over whether he gets in Newcastle's strongest team, Howe may have given us his answer by his continued dependence on the England international.