A tough night for Newcastle United in our Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, as fine margins, missed chances and visible fatigue cost us against a Man City who take a 2-0 lead to the Etihad next month.
We didn’t play badly, had our moments and generally defended better against heavy hitters like Haaland, Foden and Doku, but key ‘misses’ from Wissa early in each half coupled with clear signs of fatigue and a poor goal to concede at the death leaves us with a mountain to climb.
Howe made six changes from Saturday’s FA Cup win, as Pope, Hall, Miley, Bruno, Joelinton and Gordon replaced Ramsdale, Livramento, Trippier, Tonali, Willock and Barnes, with Elanga back on the bench.
The first big opening was THE chance of a tight first half, as Gordon and Murphy combined brilliantly to release Wissa, but our No 9 never looked likely as his left footed shot flew over. A massive moment missed to get off to a flyer, and one we’d live to regret.
Man City weren’t making it easy for us to play out, while Doku and Semenyo were big threats down either flank, but there were fleeting moments for both our wingers as Murphy whipped in a few dangerous balls and Gordon got Nunes booked after bursting past the Portuguese international.
We were doing OK, defending far better and competing all over the pitch, but had to go through the gears in the second half and start to make our openings count if we were to grab hold of the tie.
Before the break, another injury concern cropped up as Murphy was forced off, seeing Barnes come on earlier than planned after huge efforts against Leeds and Bournemouth last week.
The second half started just like the first, as another chance fell Wissa’s way. This time, a superb save from Trafford denied the DR Congo striker before Bruno’s effort struck the post seconds later.
One of those nights? It felt that way, as City took the lead moments later. A tough one to concede with Ramsey off the pitch following a head injury, as Doku got space, Foden flicked on the cross and Semenyo tapped in to make it 1-0.
An outrageously long VAR call then gave us a lifeline as Semenyo’s second was chalked off around the hour mark, then we saw more changes Woltemade, Elanga and Tonali replaced Wissa (who had been poor), a tiring Gordon and a tidy Ramsey.
Another moment at the Gallowgate and again it didn’t go in, as Tonali fired just with from Elanga’s knock down, then we saw more superb work from Hall as he blocked Silva’s goal-bound shot.
We looked tired and we needed to find something, only to see Woltemade bizarrely ignore the chance to shoot after Barnes got in behind and teed up the German, who much like Wissa didn’t do enough tonight.
Trippier replaced a booked Bruno before nine minutes of added time were signalled, where we saw Woltemade go inches away from connecting with a cross before Man City all but killed the tie with a cheap second in the 98th minute. A real soft goal to concede as Cherki tapped in, giving us a mountain to climb at the Etihad in next month’s second leg.