Eddie Howe was not exactly overjoyed to learn that, rather than being cup-tied, Antoine Semenyo was free to play for Manchester City here.
Sure enough the Newcastle manager’s worst fears were realised as the winger – who played in the competition this season for Bournemouth – scored City’s opener and had another “goal” disallowed before Rayan Cherki’s stoppage-time second put the smile back on Pep Guardiola’s face.
With a second leg at the Etihad Stadium early next month this semi-final is not quite over but, thanks to not merely Semenyo but some fine goalkeeping from James Trafford, Newcastle’s defence of the Carabao Cup they hoisted last March is looking distinctly fragile.
The holders had kicked off buoyed by the news that their Saudi Arabian majority owners are to announce plans for the construction of a £200m training ground a few miles up the road at Woolsington Hall.
Situated close to both the Newcastle’s airport – from where the team fly to and from virtually every match – and a majority of the players’ homes in the up market Northumberland village of Ponteland i t is an ideal location that should help make the club a more attractive destination for future signings.
An expanding trophy collection would serve as an even greater magnet and Newcastle’s hopes of returning to Wembley briefly soared when, following a slick move involving Joelinton, Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy, Yoane Wissa found himself with only Trafford to beat.
Guardiola looked aghast but, happily for City’s manager, the striker’s composure deserted him and he duly miscued, shooting over the crossbar from little more than six yards. It would prove the best chance of an underwhelming first half.
Like Wissa, Erling Haaland’s touches were strictly rationed and, perhaps distracted by Nick Pope’s outstretched toe the Norwegian centre-forward spurned his one and only opening of the first 45 minutes following Bernardo Silva’s dangerous cross. Too often he and Semenyo entered each other’s orbits moving with the suspicion of strangers.
Initially it all left both Pope and Trafford – who came close to joining Newcastle from Burnley last summer and is still much admired by Howe – with relatively little to do. Guardiola though still looked a little uneasy as the impressive Lewis Miley and Murphy aimed to pressure arguably City’s weakest defensive link, their left-back, Nathan Aké at every opportunity.
With tension, and tempers, mounting Nico O’Reilly and Joelinton squared up in midfield and began pushing and shoving each other in the manner of children in a primary school playground. Both were shown yellow cards.
Howe, too, lost his composure. After detecting some slapdash midfield play on Jacob Ramsey’s part, Newcastle’s manager looked in danger of spontaneous combustion as he leapt forward punching thin air and screaming invective at a player selected ahead of the fatigued Sandro Tonali.
If his mood hardly improved as a hamstring injury forced Murphy’s replacement by Harvey Barnes shortly before the interval, at least his full-backs, Miley and Lewis Hall, were ensuring that City’s own wingers, Semenyo and, to a lesser extent, Jérémy Doku, were generally being kept on reasonably tight reins.
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The same applied to Wissa but when a striker who struggled to hold the ball up throughout finally escaped his minders and directed a looping header goalwards, Trafford made a save of such high calibre that it was all too easy to see why Howe still covets him.
As Bruno Guimarães lashed the rebound on to the post it seemed a watershed moment had arrived and, almost immediately, Semenyo stepped out of the shadows.
Unlike Wissa, he made the very most of that emergence into the sunlight. When Barnes hesitated, Doku pounced unleashing a cross that Silva helped into Semenyo’s path. All that remained was for the £62.5m signing from Bournemouth to score his second goal in two games as a City player.
By way of emphasising his special talent, Semenyo swiftly spotted that Newcastle had lost concentration at a corner and backheeled a glorious improvisational “goal” beyond Pope. Newcastle were rescued by a five minute and 30 second long video assistant referee review that eventually detected a marginal offside against Haaland. The referee, Chris Kavanagh, was called to his monitor and he disallowed the goal.
Guardiola appeared suitably unimpressed. And rightly so. It was unfair on both the crowd and the players who could definitely have done without standing around for so long in the January chill.
Howe responded to this, albeit temporary, reprieve by introducing Tonali, Nick Woltemade and Anthony Elanga in place of Ramsey, Gordon and Wissa. With virtually his first touch, Tonali met Elanga’s cut-back and sent a left-foot shot whizzing fractionally wide.
For a while Newcastle rallied but the hosts were ultimately undone by a move of outstanding attacking fluency down City’s left. It culminated with Cherki sweeping his fellow substitute Rayan Aït-Nouri’s cut-back beyond Pope in the dying seconds.
