The ‘disappointing’ thing Mehrdad Ghodoussi noticed during Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup win

Just over 52,000 fans packed inside St James’ Park to watch Newcastle United advance into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 win over Leicester City.

It was set up to be a special evening on Tyneside from the get-go following Wor Flags’ inspired initiative to encourage supporters to #BringYourScarf.

The pre-match scenes resembled that of Alan Shearer’s testimonial 17 years ago, as the waving of the scarves created a sea of black and white.

The atmosphere immediately transpired onto the pitch as Eddie Howe’s men made a fast start to the tie, although were unable to find a first-half breakthrough.

Patience was required, and that paid off on the hour-mark when Dan Burn memorably scored his first goal for his boyhood club in front of the Gallowgate End.

Twelve minutes later, Joelinton made it 2-0. Leicester striker Jamie Vardy has two opportunities to make it a nervy finish but United held out to reach their first semi-final since 2005.

St James’ Park was rocking, though a few supporters pointed out online that the stadium wasn’t completely at full capacity, with a number of empty seats in the directors’ box.

That didn’t go unnoticed by co-owner Mehrdad Ghodoussi, who responded to a ‘disappointed’ fan directly on Instagram, and vowed to “do something about it”.

“I noticed it myself and will be doing something about it,” replied Ghodoussi after the fan said: “Amazing tonight. Disappointing to see all the empty corporate seats! Would be amazing if they could have been gifted to people rather than sitting empty. Just a thought.”

The demand for tickets has gone into overload since the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia bought an 80 per-cent stake in Newcastle United in October 2021.