As someone once said, we dust werselves down and on to the next one

Ah well, all good things must come to an end eh?

Newcastle United had been on a quite incredible run in the League Cup, without a proper defeat since the 2023 final.

I would confidently say that no winner of this trophy has ever done it a harder way than United’s victory last year, winning five matches against four of the top six other sides that season. A well earned and unforgettable success.

Having said that, there has been an element of luck of the draw.

Since the tie against Wimbledon was flipped to St James’ Park, we benefitted from successive home draws (v Chelsea and Brentford) and crucially, the home advantage in the second leg of the Arsenal semi. This campaign has seen three straight home ties with Bradford, Spurs and Fulham before the bum’s rush kicked in with this one.

Our record at the Etihad is horrific, so any chance at progressing had to be set up tonight at home.

The theme of the night was to come down to fine margins and chances taken.

Eyebrows will have been raised at the omission of the in-form Barnes, but as the only player to have played the entirety of the Leeds epic and the full 120 minutes vs. Bournemouth, this was perhaps necessary squad management. Or so it felt as Harvey was off the bench in the final minute of the first half as Jacob Murphy hobbled off, having looked a likely outlet with some dangerous balls in from the right.

One of these balls maybe should have opened the scoring early, as Wissa’s repeated the start against Bournemouth by missing an immediate chance, firing over from close in. Man City had a fledgling centre half pairing in the absence of some high profile absentees and they stood firm against the United front line. I’m unsure why Gordon is playing so very very wide though, as he could have been confused with the substitutes warming up at times.

The first half played out with little event bar Joelinton repeatedly getting into scrapes with a Man City midfield he simply wouldn’t allow to play through. Within minutes of the second half, events played out that will probably see this tie settled.

You got the feeling it wasn’t our night when a crazy goalmouth scramble that should have ended in United opening the scoring, only saw Trafford save from Wissa and Bruno smack the post. Within minutes the opposite had happened. Ramsey produced a fine tackle to thwart a counter attack, only to need treatment for what seemed like a knock to the head. With him off the pitch Man City slung a ball in that ended up in falling for Semenyo, who looks set to be as much as a thorn in our side as he was in Bournemouth colours.

The fact Semenyo could play in this tie is annoying in itself. Clearly the League Cup organisers are looking to heighten its profile by ensuring that any big January signings can appear in their final. This raises the ludicrous prospect that if a player was to transfer between say, Chelsea and Man City, they could find themselves at Wembley in March knowing they will receive both a winners AND a runners up medal regardless of the outcome.

Of course it’s extra galling that Man City are able to nonchalantly snap up a £60m player while we still struggle with PSR restraints, despite ever growing injuries and a frightening fixture schedule. This was exacerbated when Semenyo made it two, only for the restart to be delayed for a very long VAR check. Ultimately it was the right call that the offside Haaland was obstructing the defence but this system needs to be overhauled so these things are more easily resolved.

The reprieve boosted the place ahead of a change up with Tonali, Elanga and Woltemade entering the fray. Big Nick was to have a number of close calls, including a cross he maybe should have got a head on, and Sandro thundered one just past the post, but it just wasn’t happening.

Elanga made some effort to run at the defence, but it has got to the point now, where the odd poor decision sees the crowd on his back. Murphy’s injury may present him with more chances in the busy weeks ahead but he needs to start taking them.

With nine minutes of injury time almost over, the dagger went in, Cherki making it 2-0 to the visitors. This may be a blessing in disguise, as 0-1 would have been a difficult but not insurmountable task at the Etihad, whereas I believe it’s a fool’s errand to convince ourselves we can turn this deficit around. The loss of the grip on our trophy smarts, but the pragmatic thing may be to focus on the tricky FA Cup tie at Villa and the surrounding PL fixtures, while using the remainder of this tie as an opportunity to rest.

I am pleased we have given such a strong defence to the Carabao Cup. Seeing Palace embarrass themselves in the FA Cup last weekend makes me glad we have given those gold arm patches a few run outs, as it would have felt very disappointing to have gone out early to an opponent like Bradford, or even worse, Spurs. However, I am accepting the trophy is going back with our name belatedly engraved on it, and success must be sought via other avenues.

Given the fine margins involved, it’s hard to dismiss the Bournemouth marathon as being a factor in this setback. This was far from the sort of weak performance that brought some of the poor pre-Christmas defeats, so it shouldn’t prompt the mass hysteria not winning tends to these days, but the signs are there that this team are in danger of being victims of their own success on the four fronts we are endeavouring to compete on.

At least we have other things to look towards, so as someone once said, we dust werselves down, and on to the next one.

Newcastle 0 Manchester City 2 – Tuesday 13 January 2026 8pm

Match Stats

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Man City:

Semenyo 58, Cherki 90+8

Possession was Newcastle 43% Man City 57%

Total shots were Newcastle 10 Man City 11

Shots on target were Newcastle 3 Man City 4

Corners were Newcastle 5 Man City 6

Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 23 Man City 27

Newcastle team v Man City:

Pope, Miley, Thiaw, Botman, Hall, Ramsey (Tonali 69), Joelinton, Bruno (Trippier 87), Jacob Murphy (Barnes 47), Gordon (Elanga 69), Wissa (Woltemade 69)

Subs:

Ramsdale, Willock, Alex Murphy, Neave

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