By OUR MAN AT ST JAMES’ PARK
NEWCASTLE 0-2 MAN CITY
ANTOINE SEMENYO and RAYAN CHERKI proved there is a new order at the Etihad as they gunned down Newcastle to put one foot in the EFL Cup final.
On a freezing night in Tyneside, the “New-Look Citizens” showed they don’t need the old guard to do the business.
Semenyo—the £64m man who is quickly becoming Pep Guardiola’s new favorite toy—poked home his second goal in two games to break Geordie hearts.
And just when Eddie Howe thought his side might scrap for a lifeline to take to the second leg, super-sub Cherki popped up in the 98th minute to deliver a knockout blow that felt like a localized earthquake.
For 50 minutes, it was a proper Barbour-jacket-and-bovril affair. Newcastle’s Yoane Wissa should have had the Magpies dreaming early on, but he sent a glorious chance into the Gallowgate End.
But you don’t give this City side a second sniff. In the 53rd minute, Jeremy Doku—who spent the night turning Harvey Barnes into a human spinning top—fizzed a low ball across the box. Bernardo Silva gave it the deftest of flicks, and there was Semenyo, lurking like a shark in the shallows, to tap home.
Semenyo thought he’d doubled his tally minutes later with a cheeky backheel from a corner.
The away end went mental, but the fun police in the VAR room pulled it back. They claimed Erling Haaland—even when he’s not scoring, he’s causing chaos—was interfering with play from an offside position.
Newcastle threw the kitchen sink at it. Sandro Tonali whistled one past the post and Bruno Guimarães rattled the woodwork so hard the bridge probably felt it.
But City have a bench deeper than the North Sea. Rayan Cherki came on, looked at the Newcastle defense, and decided he was the main character.
Deep into stoppage time, the Frenchman danced through a weary Toon backline, played a slick one-two with Rayan Ait-Nouri, and slotted past Nick Pope.
The Etihad awaits for the second leg, but on this evidence, the Magpies’ flight to Wembley has been grounded.
MATCH STATS
GOALS: Semenyo (53), Cherki (90+8)
WOODWORK: Wissa (50), Guimaraes (51)
REF WATCH: Busy. Seven yellows and a VAR headache.
