Manchester City continued their impressive run of form with a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday. The win came just days after City reached the fourth round of the FA Cup, having demolished Exeter City 10-1 earlier in the week.
The result puts Pep Guardiola’s side firmly in control of the tie ahead of the second leg at the Etihad Stadium on February 4, leaving City with one foot in the League Cup final.
Manchester City Break Through After Goalless First Half
Newcastle started brightly and almost stunned the visitors inside five minutes. Anthony Gordon’s precise pass found Jacob Murphy, whose cross was met by Euan Weissa, but his left-footed effort flew over the crossbar.
Manchester City responded with well-structured counterattacks, utilizing the pace of Jeremy Doku and Semenyo to keep the hosts pinned back. Bernardo Silva came close midway through the first half when Nick Pope just tipped away his teasing delivery before reaching Erling Haaland.
Despite a physical and heated opening period — which saw several yellow cards handed out — the first half ended scoreless, with neither goalkeeper seriously tested.
Second-Half Strike Puts City in Command
After the break, Newcastle threatened again as James Trafford produced a full-body save to deny a looping header, before Bruno Guimarães struck the post from close range.
City finally broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute. Silva combined with Doku before releasing Semenyo, who calmly finished from inside the box to silence the home crowd.
“𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏,” 𝑺𝒊𝒍𝒗𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑰𝑻𝑽 𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕. “𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎, 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅.”
City thought they had doubled their lead minutes later when Semenyo headed in from a corner, but a lengthy VAR check ruled the goal out for offside involving Haaland.
Late Goal Seals Advantage
Newcastle continued to push, with Guimarães and Sandro Tonali both going close, but Trafford remained alert. Their resistance finally broke deep into stoppage time.
Substitute Ryan Cherki exchanged passes with Rayan Aït-Nouri before firing past Pope in the ninth minute of injury time, giving Manchester City a commanding two-goal cushion.
With momentum firmly on their side, Manchester will head into the return leg knowing they are just one step away from another domestic final.
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