Now you see the ball, now you don't - Semenyo and Cherki work magic against Magpies

If you missed the first half of the EFL Cup semi-final between Newcastle and Manchester City, you didn’t miss much — but if you skipped the second half, you missed a lot. Brilliant moves, huge chances, and in the end a touch of magic from Ghana and France secured a 2-0 win for Pep Guardiola’s side ahead of the Etihad return leg.

Newcastle and Manchester City went into the break locked in a tense, goalless first half at St James’ Park, where intensity outweighed quality and clear-cut chances were at a premium.

The hosts started on the front foot and nearly struck inside the opening five minutes. Ramsey burst forward on the right on a swift counter-attack and picked out Wissa, who found himself one-on-one with City’s goalkeeper. However, the Newcastle forward lifted his effort over the crossbar, squandering a golden early opportunity.

The match was played at a high tempo for much of the first half-hour, with both sides pressing aggressively, but neither managed to carve out sustained danger. Wissa again found space in the 27th minute in a position almost identical to his earlier chance, only to miss the target once more. This time, his reprieve came from the assistant referee’s flag, as the move was ultimately ruled offside.

Frustration and tension gradually crept into the contest, culminating in a heated confrontation between Nick O’Reilly and Joelinton. The flashpoint threatened to boil over before cooler heads intervened, allowing the game to continue without further incident.

In stoppage time, Newcastle were forced into an early change, with Jacob Murphy unable to continue and Harvey Barnes introduced in the second minute of added time.

Remarkably, it took Manchester City 48 minutes to register their first shot of the half. Nathan Ake’s speculative effort was comfortably off target, underlining City’s struggles to impose themselves before the interval. By the time the whistle blew, the statistics told a blunt story: just three shots in total across the half, none of them testing either goalkeeper, in a first period defined more by intensity and tension than attacking quality.

Just four minutes after the restart, City nearly took the lead in fortuitous fashion. Following a delivery from Nathan Ake, Anthony Gordon made an awkward defensive intervention and almost turned the ball into his own net. Fortunately for him and Newcastle, Nick Pope reacted sharply to keep the ball out.

Newcastle responded immediately and came agonisingly close to scoring in the 50th minute with two huge chances in the space of seconds. First, Wissa met Gordon’s cross with a header that crashed against the crossbar. Play continued and, from the resulting scramble, Bruno Guimaraes fired a shot that struck the post. Two massive opportunities, two rattled goal frames, and heartbreak for the hosts in the blink of an eye.

Those missed chances proved costly. In the 53rd minute, Manchester City struck first. Jeremy Doku surged down the left flank and cut the ball back towards Bernardo Silva. The pass ran through to Antoine Semenyo, who calmly tucked the ball into the net to give City a 1–0 lead. It was Semenyo’s second goal in as many games for the Cityzens.

The tempo remained high, and Newcastle continued to push. In the 58th minute, Bruno Guimaraes picked up the ball on the edge of the penalty area and unleashed a shot, but his effort went straight into the hands of James Trafford.

City thought they had doubled their advantage in the 63rd minute, once again through Semenyo. After a corner, the former Bournemouth forward produced a brilliant improvised finish, flicking the ball backwards with his knee to beat Pope and make it 2–0. However, after a lengthy VAR review lasting almost five minutes, the goal was ruled out. Although Erling Haaland did not touch the ball, he was deemed to be in an offside position and interfering with both the goalkeeper and a Newcastle defender.

Newcastle continued to search for an equaliser and went close again in the 70th minute. A well-worked move ended with Sandro Tonali striking the ball first time, but his effort drifted narrowly wide of the post.

In the closing stages, City had another excellent opportunity to put the game beyond doubt. In the 81st minute, Rayan Cherki managed to get a shot away from a very tight angle, only for Nick Pope to produce an excellent save and divert the ball behind for a corner.

In the closing seconds of the match, the final seal was put on the game as Rayan Cherki found the net following a sensational Manchester City move. The move was a masterpiece involving Semenyo, Ait-Nouri and Cherki, with the Frenchman playing a clever backheel one-two with Ait-Nouri before calmly placing the ball into the net.

CARABAO CUP SEMI-FINALS

Tuesday

Newcastle - Man. City 0-2 (0-0)

/Semenyo 53, Cherki 90+8/

Wednesday

23.00: (3.20) Chelsea (3.40) Arsenal (2.25)

***odds are subject to change***