Howe 'delighted' with goalscorer Isak after Carabao Cup win at Arsenal

Eddie Howe reflects on Alexander Isak's performance in Newcastle's 2-0 semi-final first leg win at Arsenal

Transcript

00:00He played very well in the first half today. He looked really good physically. His pace

00:08and movements were giving them a problem and I think he looked free. I was delighted with

00:15how he performed. He took his goal really well. But then we knew second half that we

00:18needed to manage him. He's so important. We can't lose him. We can't risk losing him.

00:22So hopefully he's OK. I think every team needs a good striker and we feel when Callum's

00:28fit we've got two very, very good strikers that offer something different but really

00:33elevate our play. I think you can see when Alex is in that mood tonight, as he was in

00:37the first half, he is a brilliant player for us to use in various ways. I think the players

00:41really appreciate him. It goes without saying also he's doing the hard work as well. He's

00:45not just scoring goals. He's doing the other bits that we need him to do to help the team

00:48be effective.