Manchester City surged into a 3-0 second-leg lead against Newcastle United in their Carabao Cup semifinal, virtually assuring their place at Wembley against Arsenal next month.
Omar Marmoush scored a hat-trick at the Magpies’ expense on this ground last season and he was their chief tormentor once again, netting twice within the opening half hour after Pep Guardiola started the Egypt international and left Erling Haaland on the bench.
Tijjani Reijnders’ seventh goal of the season piled on the misery for the visitors as City moved 5-0 ahead on aggregate and Eddie Howe’s decision to revert to a back five appeared dubious in the extreme.
To compound matters for Newcastle, Anthony Gordon pulled up shortly before the interval with a hamstring injury. Harvey Barnes replaced the England winger and Howe sent on three more substitutes at the break. One of those, Anthony Elanga, found a fine finish to reduce the arrears.
RECAP: Newcastle vs. Man City, Carabao Cup semfinal, 1st leg as it happened
Man City vs. Newcastle score
| Score (agg.) | Goalscorers | |
| Man City | 3 (5) | Marmoush 7′, 29′, Reijnders 33′ |
| Newcastle | 1 (1) | Elanga 62′ |
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester (UK)
Referee: Tony Harrington
Man City vs. Newcastle talking points, analysis
Match analysis from Man City vs. Newcastle will appear here after fulltime.
Man City vs. Newcastle lineups, team news
Pep Guardiola makes six changes from the team that spurned a two-goal lead at Tottenham, with Erling Haaland among those dropping to the bench. Omar Marmoush starts alongide Antoine Semenyo in attack, while Phil Foden gets his first start since the Manchester derby on January 17.
Ruben Dias is among the substitutes after a month on the sidelines, as is teenage midfielder Sverre Nypan following his recall from a loan spell at Middlesbrough. Captain Bernardo Silva is out after sustaining a hamstring injury at Tottenham.
While Semenyo is eligible to participate, Marc Guehi is cup-tied for this and a potential final, as he was not acquired by Man City prior to the start of the semifinals as required by this season’s new relaxed rules.
Man City starting XI (4-2-2-2 right to left): Trafford (GK) — Nunes, Khusanov, Ake, Ait-Nouri — Nico, O’Reilly— Foden, Reijnders — Semenyo, Marmoush
Man City subs: Donnarumma (GK), Dias, Haaland, Cherki, Rodri, Nypan, McAidoo, Alleyne, Lewis
Newcastle had an even more disappointing weekend as they lost 4-1 to Liverpool, despite Anthony Gordon opening the scoring at Anfield. The England winger retains his place fellow forwards Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga drop out.
Nick Woltemade joins Gordon in attack, with Sven Botman the other outfield player to come in as Eddie Howe reverts to a back five.
Newcastle starting XI (5-3-2, right to left): Ramsdale (GK) — Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Burn, Hall — Willock, Tonali, Ramsey —Gordon, Woltemade
Newcastle subs: Pope (GK), Wissa, Barnes, Osula, Elanga, J. Murphy, A. Murphy, Shahar, Neave
Man City vs. Newcastle reaction
Pep Guardiola and Eddie Howe’s post-match reaction will appear here.
Next games for Man City vs. Galatasaray
Manchester City travel to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, February 8
A day earlier, Newcastle host Brentford at St James’ Park.
