Manchester City beat Newcastle 3-1 yesterday to end their reign as League Cup holders. They will now play Arsenal in the final.
According to AFP, Pep Guardiola’s team was already in the lead after winning the first leg of the semi-final on Tyneside in January. They finished the job in a brutal way at the Etihad Stadium.
Omar Marmoush scored two goals in the first half of the second leg, one before and one after Tijjani Reijnders scored.
After the break, Anthony Elanga cut the lead, but City’s 5-1 aggregate win sent them back to the League Cup final for the first time since 2021.
After beating Chelsea on Tuesday, the Premier League leaders will play Arsenal for the last time on March 22 at Wembley.
Guardiola was happy to make it to the final after being upset over losing a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at Tottenham on Sunday, which hurt their chances of winning the title.
City is six points behind Arsenal in the Premier League title race, and they have a big game against Liverpool this weekend.
Guardiola’s City won the League Cup in 2018 by beating Arsenal in the final. Mikel Arteta, who is now the Gunners’ manager, was then Guardiola’s assistant.
City won the tournament for the next three years, but they haven’t won the League Cup since 2021.
This week, Guardiola used irony and statistics to defend City against charges that their success is owed to the money of their Abu Dhabi-based owners.
The City manager said that six other English clubs have spent more money than his team in the last five years, but he knows he will never win over the detractors.
The only way Guardiola can shut out the outside noise and growing claims that City is a team on the decline is to win trophies.
Guardiola would love to break City’s dry drought at Arsenal’s expense, especially because they didn’t win a trophy last season for the first time in eight years.
City with Style
Guardiola made six changes, leaving Erling Haaland, Rodri, and Rayan Cherki on the bench to get ready for Liverpool on Sunday.
Haaland had only scored two goals in his last 11 games in all competitions. His replacement, Marmoush, scored in the seventh minute to give City the lead.
Marmoush ran into the Newcastle penalty area, and when Dan Burn made a last-ditch tackle, the ball deflected off the Egyptian striker and into the net.
James Trafford kept City’s lead by stopping Joe Willock’s shot after the Newcastle midfielder got past him.
Anthony Gordon was about to score when he only had to beat Trafford, but the City keeper spread himself out to make a crucial save.
Newcastle had one last chance to make a game of it, but City killed them off before halftime.
Marmoush scored again in the 29th minute, hitting the ball home from almost the goal line after Kieran Trippier messed up clearing Antoine Semenyo’s cross.
That was the end of a sharp City counter-attack, and they tore Newcastle apart again with another quick raid in the 32nd minute.
Reijnders led the break, found Semenyo, and then raced into the area to finish the Ghanaian’s return pass with a precise low drive from 12 yards.
City barely got out of first gear in the second half, and Elanga scored in the 62nd minute by curling the ball into the far corner after weaving between the defense.
About the Author
