Oh well, all good things come to an end, right?
Newcastle United had produced an incredible performance in the League Cup, without an outright defeat since the 2023 final.
I could confidently say that no winner of this trophy has ever done it in a more difficult manner than United’s triumph last year, winning five games against four of the top six other sides that season. A well-deserved and unforgettable success.
That said, there was also an element of luck to the draw.
Since the draw against Wimbledon was switched to St James’ Park, we benefited from consecutive home draws (against Chelsea and Brentford) and, crucially, from home advantage in the second leg of the semi-final against Arsenal. This campaign saw three successive home games with Bradford, Spurs and Fulham before the tramp rush started with this one.
Our record at the Etihad is terrible, so any chance of progress had to be created at home tonight.
The theme of the evening was it comes down to small margins and chances taken.
Eyebrows will have been raised at the omission of the in-form Barnes, but as the only player to play the entire Leeds epic and the full 120 minutes against Bournemouth, this may have been team management necessity. At least that’s how it felt when Harvey came off the bench in the final minute of the first half as Jacob Murphy limped off after looking a likely outlet with a couple of dangerous balls from the right.
One of these balls might have opened the scoring early on as Wissa repeated the start against Bournemouth by missing an immediate chance and firing over from close range. Man City had a new centre-half pair in the absence of some high-profile absentees and they held their own against United’s front line. However, I’m not sure why Gordon plays so wide as he could sometimes be confused with the substitutes who were warming up.
The first half was uneventful, with Joelinton repeatedly finding himself in trouble with a Man City midfield that simply wouldn’t let him play. Within minutes of the second half, events unfolded that would likely decide this tie.
You got the feeling it wasn’t our night when a mad scramble for goal, which should have ended in United opening the scoring, only saw Trafford save from Wissa and Bruno hit the post. Within minutes the opposite had happened. Ramsey produced a fine tackle to thwart a counter-attack but required treatment for what appeared to be a blow to the head. When he was off the pitch, Man City threw a ball in, which ultimately resulted in a trap for Semenyo, who appears to be as much of a thorn in the side as he is in Bournemouth’s colours.
The fact that Semenyo was able to play in this tie is annoying in itself. It is understood that the League Cup organizers are looking to raise their profile by ensuring that all major signings can feature in their final in January. This raises the ludicrous prospect that if a player were to switch between, say, Chelsea and Man City, he could end up at Wembley in March knowing he will receive both a winner AND a runners-up medal regardless of the outcome.
Of course, it’s extra annoying that Man City can casually sign a £60m player while we’re still struggling with PSR restrictions, despite mounting injuries and a frightening fixture list. This was made worse when Semenyo made it two, but the restart was delayed due to a very long VAR check. Ultimately, Haaland, who was offside, blocking the defense was the right decision, but this system needs to be overhauled so that these issues can be resolved more easily.
The delay increased the place ahead of a substitution, with Tonali, Elanga and Woltemade coming into contention. Big Nick would have a number of close calls, including a cross that he perhaps should have scored on, and Sandro thundered one just past the post, but it just didn’t happen.
Elanga made some effort to get at the defense, but it’s now gotten to the point where the crowd is on his back due to a strange bad decision. Murphy’s injury may give him more opportunities in the busy weeks ahead, but he must take advantage of them.
With nine minutes of injury time almost over, the dagger went in, making Cherki 2-0 for the visitors. This could be a blessing in disguise as 0-1 would have been a difficult but not insurmountable task at the Etihad, while I believe it would be folly to convince ourselves that we can reverse this deficit. Losing grip on our trophy smarts, but the pragmatic thing might be to focus on the tricky FA Cup tie at Villa and the surrounding PL matches, while using the rest of this match as a chance to rest.
I am happy that we defended the Carabao Cup so strongly. Seeing as Palace embarrassed themselves in the FA Cup last weekend, I’m glad we gave those golden arm patches a few points as it would have been very disappointing to go out early to an opponent like Bradford, or worse, Spurs. However, I accept that the trophy will go back with our name belatedly engraved on it, and that success will have to be sought through other avenues.
Given the small margins involved, it is difficult to dismiss the Bournemouth Marathon as a factor in this setback. This was far from the kind of poor performance that accompanied some of the bad defeats before Christmas, so it shouldn’t lead to the mass hysteria that doesn’t win these days, but the signs are there that this team is in danger of becoming a victim of their own success on the four fronts we’re trying to compete on.
At least we have other things to look at, so as someone once said, we dust ourselves off and move on to the next one.
Newcastle 0 Manchester City 2 – Tuesday January 13, 2026 8:00 PM
Match statistics
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Man’s City:
Semenyo 58, Cherki 90+8
Possess was Newcastle 43% Manchester 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 vs Man City:
Mother, Myley, Thiw, Botman, Halil, Ramsey, 69), Joelton, Bruno (Trippier 87), Jacob Murphy (Crolled 47), Walkon 69), Wissa (Whossa (Whossa (Whossa (Whossa 69))
subtitles:
Ramsdale, Willock, Alex Murphy, Neave
You can follow the author on BlueSky @bigjimwinsalot.bsky.social
#dust #move