Manchester City booked their place in next month’s EFL Cup final with a commanding 3-1 victory over Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium, completing a thumping 5-1 aggregate win in the
semi-final.
Pep Guardiola’s side, already holding a 2-0 advantage from the first leg, were ruthless once again as Omar Marmoush struck twice in the first half to end Newcastle’s hopes early. City will now face Arsenal at Wembley on Sunday 22 March in a final that pits the Premier League’s top two against each other.
Newcastle, last season’s EFL Cup winners, never recovered from a disastrous opening 30 minutes. Marmoush opened the scoring in the seventh minute when his run forced Dan Burn into a sliding challenge that deflected the ball over Aaron Ramsdale and into the net. Just two minutes later, the visitors missed a golden opportunity to respond as Anthony Gordon slipped Joe Willock through on goal, only for James Trafford to sprint off his line and smother the chance.
City’s pressure was relentless. Antoine Semenyo caused repeated problems down the right and came close to setting up a second when his low cross flashed across the six-yard box with Nico O’Reilly inches away from connecting. Marmoush made no mistake moments later, rising at the far post to head home after Kieran Trippier failed to deal with another dangerous Semenyo delivery.
The tie was effectively over on 32 minutes. A slick counter-attack ended with Tijjani Reijnders calmly finishing to put City 3-0 up on the night and 5-0 ahead on aggregate, underlining the gulf between the sides.
Guardiola, mindful of the congested schedule, had made six changes from the weekend draw at Tottenham, leaving Erling Haaland on the bench. The depth of City’s squad told, with their rotated side maintaining tempo and control throughout the first half.
Eddie Howe responded with several changes at the break and Newcastle showed more urgency after the restart. Substitute Yoane Wissa was gifted a chance following an error from Abdukodir Khusanov but fired over, while another half-time introduction, Anthony Elanga, produced a moment of quality to pull one back — cutting in from the right and curling a superb finish beyond Trafford.
Newcastle briefly threatened a comeback, with Elanga later missing a clear chance from Harvey Barnes’ cross, but City remained comfortable. Reijnders went close to adding a second of his own, and Haaland was denied late on by Ramsdale after being played through by Rayan Cherki.
Speaking after the match, Marmoush praised City’s mentality and ambition. “We were together as a team from the first moment,” he said. “This is one of the biggest clubs in the world and we are here to win trophies. We work every day to reach finals like this and win silverware.”
Howe admitted his side paid the price for a poor start. “It was the beginning we didn’t want,” he said. “The first half was really difficult. The lads responded well in the second half but we’ve only scored one goal across the two games, and that’s the reality.”
City’s progression continues their remarkable EFL Cup record. This will be their seventh final in eight seasons, having won the competition eight times overall — second only to Liverpool’s ten. The final also revives memories of the 2018 showpiece, when City defeated Arsenal 3-0, with Mikel Arteta then serving as Guardiola’s assistant.
As a result of City reaching the final, their Premier League home fixture against Crystal Palace scheduled for 21 March will be postponed.
All eyes now turn to Wembley, where Guardiola and Arteta will meet again — this time as rivals — with silverware on the line. Photo by Vojta.zurek, Wikimedia commons.