Man City brushed Newcastle aside as they reached the Carabao Cup final with an emphatic 3-1 semi-final second-leg victory on Wednesday night. Pep Guardiola made six changes to his starting line up from the weekend draw with Tottenham and it didn't take long for them to work.
City started brightly and took an early lead when Omar Marmoush lifted the ball over Aaron Ramsdale via a lucky deflection. Newcastle almost responded immediately when Joe Willock raced through on goal but was thwarted by the onrushing James Trafford. The goalkeeper produced another fine stop to deny Anthony Gordon in the box before goals from Marmoush and Tijani Reijnders ended the contest after half an hour.
Yoane Wissa missed a glorious chance to grab a consolation goal after the restart and Reijnders fired wide from the edge of the box as City looked to wrap up the win in style. Newcastle were much better in the second half and grabbed a consolation goal when Anthony Elanga curled an excellent effort in, while Harvey Barnes had another goal disallowed for offside and Elanga skewed another chance wide.
Erling Haaland had a couple of late efforts stopped after his introduction from the bench as Guardiola’s side set up a showpiece final with Arsenal next month. Here is how the players rated.
1. James Trafford - 8
An excellent early intervention to deny Willock and another good stop to deny Gordon a goal. The unsung hero of the win. | Getty Images
2. Matheus Nunes - 6
Booked for a cheap foul after he had lost possession. Was rarely troubled otherwise as City nullified their opponents. | Getty Images
3. Abdukodir Khusanov - 7
He was calm and composed in the heart of defence. Some good recovery work to frustrate the Newcastle attack. | Getty Images
4. Nathan Ake - 7
A comfortable performance in central defence. He was replaced at half-time and awarded a rare rest. | Getty Images