Manchester City take a step closer to the Carabao Cup finals as they defeat holders Newcastle United in the first leg of the semi-finals 0-2 with goals from their latest signing Antoine Semenyo who has continued his blazing this season from Bournemouth heading into his debut last week in the FA cup with a goal and assist which earned him the man of the match performance. It was a stalemate in the first half with both teams creating few chances and Newcastle not taking their early chances to hit Manchester City on a counter with misses from Yoanne Wissa and great saves from the Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford.
Newcastle United remained compact in the first half with a well-organized midfield of Bruno Guimares, Joelinton and Lewis Miley who made it difficult for Manchester City midfield and attack to easily stroll past them, but were not resilient enough with constant taking on by Jeremy Doku in the second half of the game from his favored left wing who whipped a low ball into the box across the face of goal which was slightly hit by the Manchester City captain Bernando Silva into the path of their new boy Antoine Semenyo who had an easy tap in into the goal past Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Semenyo continued to be a goal threat for Manchester City as he buried in another chance stylishly with his back heel from Jeremy Doku brilliant cross into the box but was ruled out for offside due to Erling Haaland interference in the play. However, the game remained 0-1 up into the 90th minute with Newcastle United pressing for an equalizer with them missing clear-cut chances from substitutes Nick Woltemade and Harvey Barnes to get something to hold onto going into the second leg at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City added another goal in stoppage with a brilliant combination play from Antoine Semenyo onto Rayan Cherki who flicked the ball to Ait-Nouri for a quick one-two who had a simple finish to end the game with a two-goal advantage.
Manchester City head into the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals on the 4th of February 2026 at their home turf, Etihad Stadium to secure a place in the finals potentially against Chelsea or Arsenal who will be playing the second stage of the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
