Man City 3 – 1 Newcastle

Manchester City completed a 5-1 aggregate win over holders Newcastle to set up a Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.

Omar Marmoush scored twice early on before Tijjani Reijnders put the outcome beyond the doubt before the first half was through. Newcastle made a better fist of it after the interval, Anthony Elanga pulling one goal back, but the tie was a lost cause by then.

The Magpies were always up against it following their two-goal defeat last month and, though they were hoping for a fast start, any prospect of that was gone once Dan Burn’s clearance ricocheted off Marmoush and looped over goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

James Trafford did have to come off his line twice to smother chances for Joe Willock and Anthony Gordon but Marmoush soon made them pay with his second of the night, nodding in from Antoine Semenyo’s centre after Reijnders’ powerful run from deep.

The Netherlands international midfielder regularly found space in behind the Newcastle midfield – City outnumbering their opponents in the centre of the pitch – and it led to the third goal as well. Reijnders finished this chance himself after being fed by Semenyo.

Howe lost Anthony Gordon to injury late in the first half and made three further substitutions at the break, changing the flow of the game somewhat, albeit too late. Yoane Wissa missed a clear chance before fellow arrival Anthony Elanga fired into the bottom corner.

There were chants of, ‘We’re going to win 6-5,’ from the vocal travelling support and though Harvey Barnes had an effort rightly ruled out for offside, Elanga then missed an even better chance after his goal, a reminder of City’s own vulnerabilities at the back.

But Newcastle’s grip on the trophy that ended their 70-year wait for major domestic silverware last season has been relinquished. It is Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City who will contest the final against Premier League leaders Arsenal on March 22 at Wembley.

Player of the match: Omar Marmoush

This was Marmoush’s third start for City since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations and the third time that his team have taken the lead inside the opening 10 minutes of those games. Two of those goals have been scored by the livewire Egyptian himself.

He scored twice in this victory over Newcastle, this time without Erling Haaland on the pitch. That Marmoush looks a viable alternative to the big Norwegian could prove very important for Guardiola as City continue to compete on four fronts this season.

Marmoush’s characteristics are arguably better suited than Haaland to the split-striker system that Guardiola has been using of late. He has dovetailed well with Semenyo, the two wide forwards also providing those spaces for Reijnders and others to run into.

Do not expect Marmoush to usurp Haaland for the biggest games, perhaps. But in lightening the load on City’s striker and providing a goal threat of his own, there is no doubt that his presence presents Guardiola with better options ahead of a busy spring.

Guardiola fury over Guehi ineligibility

Despite the victory, Guardiola was left frustrated about new signing Marc Guehi being ineligible for the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal, revealing that he does not understand the ruling and that the club will write to the EFL to appeal the decision.

Rule 6.4.2 in the Carabao Cup states that if a player is signed after the first-leg of the semi-final that he is ineligible to play in the remainder of the competition. As Guehi signed from Crystal Palace after the first-leg win, the rules states that he cannot play.

Guardiola told Sky Sports: “Hopefully in March, we can arrive with the players fit and hopefully you can convince the Carabao Cup that Marc Guehi can play in the final because it’s difficult to understand that the club who make a big investment to pay one player who belongs to us and I don’t understand why he cannot play the final.

“So hopefully we write a letter and hopefully the Carabao Cup can understand. He’s not able to play for a rule that I don’t understand why. Hopefully, they can change it.”

Howe ‘really annoyed’ by ‘painful’ exit

Howe revealed his pain at being eliminated from the Carabao Cup and was left “really annoyed” by his team’s first-half performance.

“Really annoyed with the first-half display because we pride ourselves on been really organised and tactically we want to be able to handle any problem the opposition gives us.

“But that first half, I just don’t think we were good enough. Our duels were off. That gave us huge problems. We didn’t well at all, I think.

“So, yeah, the first half was really disappointing. Where does that leave our season? That leaves our season, we are still fighting on several fronts. I think the games are coming thick and fast, there is no let-up for us.”

Speaking about the cup exit, after winning this trophy ended Newcastle’s 70-year wait for a major domestic honours last season, Howe added: “It is painful. We obviously loved the ride that we had last year in the cup and all the moments and the experience, and we were desperate to do it again.

“We’re finding it difficult in this moment having just played Paris, Liverpool and Manchester City away. That’s a tough schedule for any team to face, and we’re dealing with the number of injuries that we have. There are no excuses, it’s just that’s the reality.

“We’re missing some really big players, and I think you could feel that from their performance tonight.”

Newcastle have beaten only Burnley and Everton away from home in the Premier League and after hosting Brentford at the weekend will play four more away games back to back across three different competitions. Howe admits it is a concern.

“Last year we went to several grounds and went into the games really believing that we could win. The only way you build that is by winning, so we need to try and get that feeling back. The team has been knocked in recent weeks, there’s no denying that.

“As I said, we’ve lost some big players, and with that you lose a little bit of confidence.

“It’s funny, the last two games, if you look at it and actually really analyse the games, which I know you guys do, you’d go, we haven’t been outplayed throughout the games, we’ve been in the games.

“We haven’t defended well enough and we haven’t taken a lot of the chances that we’ve created. So we still believe that we’re a good team, we just need to protect confidence levels at all costs, that’s my first thought.”

There was also the blow of Gordon’s injury to add injury to insult. “It looks like a hamstring problem. I don’t know how bad it is but it was enough for him to go off so that is a worry.”

What’s coming up next?