Manchester City beat Newcastle 2-0 at St. James’ Park in the Carabao Cup first leg, with Semenyo and Cherki scoring for the visitors
Manchester City defeated Newcastle United 2-0 at St. James’ Park on Tuesday night in the first leg of their Carabao Cup tie, with Antoine Semenyo opening the scoring and Rayan Cherki sealing the victory in stoppage time.
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The return leg is scheduled at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, 4 February, giving Newcastle an opportunity to overturn the deficit and defend their title.
City broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute when Semenyo “forced Jérémy Doku’s cross home from close range,” marking his second goal in two matches since joining from AFC Bournemouth.
The match-winning moment came deep into stoppage time as Cherki converted Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cutback to secure the 2-0 advantage.
Despite falling behind, Newcastle created chances to change the game.
James Trafford made a crucial save from Bruno Guimarães, and Yoane Wissa struck the woodwork in the second half.
Joelinton also had a header well saved by City’s defence.
The match began with a unique spectacle as 16-year-old Joe Bartley performed Local Hero on electric guitar on the pitch, accompanied by a striking display of banners from the stands.
Newcastle started strongly, with Wissa missing a close-range opportunity inside five minutes.
Later, a Gordon cross met Joelinton’s header, but it failed to trouble Manchester City goalkeeper Nick Pope, who was largely untroubled before the break.
Early in the second half, Pope was alert to prevent a ricochet from Gordon crossing the line.
Moments later, Trafford produced a pivotal save, tipping Wissa’s looping header onto the bar, while Guimarães struck the post.
City had an additional goal ruled out after a long VAR check, as Erling Haaland was deemed offside following Semenyo’s flick from a Tijjani Reijnders flag-kick.
Substitute Sandro Tonali also flashed a shot wide before Cherki’s stoppage-time strike settled the contest.
Manchester City celebrated a clean sheet, noting: “We are the first team this season to stop Newcastle from scoring on home soil.” The club also highlighted the defensive performances of young defenders Khusanov and Alleyne as a confidence boost.
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Despite the loss, Newcastle remain “down but not out” ahead of the second leg at the Etihad Stadium next month.
David Okere is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering business, governance, public affairs, and human-interest stories with a commitment to accuracy, balance, and public interest reporting.
