City brushes aside Newcastle to reach League Cup final

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom — Manchester City will face Arsenal in the League Cup final after ending Newcastle's reign as holder with a first-half blitz in its 3-1 victory on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola's side was already in pole position after winning the semifinal first leg on Tyneside in January, and it finished the job in ruthless fashion at the Etihad Stadium.

Omar Marmoush struck twice in the first half of the second leg before Tijjani Reijnders put the result beyond doubt.

Anthony Elanga reduced the deficit after the interval, but City's 5-1 aggregate win sent it back to the League Cup showpiece for the first time since 2021.

City's final date with Arsenal is set for March 22 at Wembley after the Premier League leader knocked out Chelsea on Tuesday.

Reaching the final was a welcome tonic for Guardiola following the frustration of blowing a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at Tottenham on Sunday, which delivered a major blow to its league title challenge.

With a crucial trip to Liverpool looming this weekend, City trails Arsenal by six points in the Premier League title race.

The League Cup was the first silverware of Guardiola's reign at City, when it beat Arsenal in the 2018 final, with current Gunners boss Mikel Arteta then working as the Spaniard's assistant.

City went on to win the competition for the following three years, but hasn't lifted the League Cup since 2021.

"We will travel to London again, they will wait for us there. They never travel to the north (for finals), but I am really happy to be back. Five (League Cup) finals in 10 years is a big milestone," Guardiola said.

"It will be good. You have to live this experience. The first title we won here was in the League Cup.

"When you win something, it helps to win more. It's a pleasure to play against Arsenal, the best team right now in Europe and, maybe, the world."

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe added: "Really annoyed with the first half display. We pride ourselves on being really organized, and, tactically, we want to be able to handle any problem the opposition gives us.

"In that first half, we weren't good enough individually and our duels were off, and it gave us huge problems."

Guardiola used sarcasm and statistics this week to defend City against claims the club's success has been due to the financial muscle of its Abu Dhabi-based owners.

The City manager pointed out that six English clubs have spent more than his side over the past five years, but he knows he will never win over the critics.

Magpies pulled apart

Guardiola's only way to silence the outside noise — and mounting suggestions that City is a team in decline — is with silverware.

And, after finishing last season without a trophy for the first time in eight years, Guardiola would love to end City's barren spell at Arsenal's expense.

Marmoush put City ahead with a stroke of luck in the seventh minute.

He raced into the Newcastle penalty area and, when Dan Burn made a last-ditch tackle, the ball bounced off the Egypt forward and looped into the net.

James Trafford preserved City's lead, saving a couple of efforts from Joe Willock and Anthony Gordon in quick succession.

Marmoush struck for the second time in the 29th minute, heading home from virtually on the goal-line after Kieran Trippier made a hash of clearing Antoine Semenyo's cross.

That goal was the culmination of an incisive City counterattack, and it pulled the Magpies apart again with another rapid raid in the 32nd minute.

Reijnders led the break, picking out Semenyo and racing into the area to finish the Ghanaian's return pass with a clinical low drive from 12 yards.

City barely got out of first gear in the second half, and Elanga got one back in the 62nd minute, curling into the far corner after slaloming through the defense.

Guehi needed

Guardiola will ask the Football League for permission to play Marc Guehi in the League Cup final against Arsenal, even though the England defender is ineligible for the Wembley showdown.

Unlike Semenyo, who also arrived at City in January from Bournemouth, Guehi is ineligible to play in the League Cup this season because the center-back joined after the first leg against Newcastle took place.

Guardiola acknowledged that he did not expect City to be successful in its plea.

But the Spaniard, aware of his team's defensive issues this season and the threat posed by Arsenal, plans to make the case for Guehi's inclusion regardless.

"Why should he not play? Why not?" Guardiola said. "He's our player, we pay his salary, we hired him.

"We want to ask. I said to the club we have to ask, definitely. I don't understand the reason why he cannot play in the final of the League Cup in March when he has been here a long time.

"Of course we are going to ask, because it's pure logic. But will it change the rule? No way. But we will try."

AFP