It was a good night for Manchester City as they have put themselves in a good position to progress from this **EFL Cup**semi final.
Newcastle United are not out the tie just yet but they will know that having to score at least two goals at the Etihad will be a challenge. Had it been 1-0, their fans would have left feeling more positive, but the stoppage time second goal could be crucial.
Eddie Howe's side had chances and with the game level at 0-0 at half time, the best first half chance fell the way of the home side. Early on, Yoanne Wissa was played through in the centre and he probably should have done better, his first touch was not bad but he blasted his shot over the bar.
City took an early lead in the second half through Antoine Semenyo and Semenyo thought he had doubled the lead when he converted from a corner later in the game.
Five and a half minutes later, it was ruled out by VAR as Erling Haaland was judged to have been in an offside position and been interfering with the keeper.
It was a controversial decision and, one that in real time, no Newcastle players were calling for. It was also a moment that could have had a big outcome on the rest of the tie.
After the goal was ruled out, Newcastle had a few chances. Bruno Guimaraes hit the post with a shot and James Trafford in the City goal made a great save to keep out a header.
Then, in the ninth minute of stoppage time (due to the VAR pause), Rayan Cherki found the back of the net and it did finish 2-0 to City.
Here are four takeaways from the game:
Joining a new team is always a challenge and it can be understandable if some players take time to find their feet.
However, Semenyo has made an instant impact at City. He scored against Exeter City in the **FA Cup**at the weekend and scored again at St. James' Park. On another night, had it not been for VAR, he would have had two.
He linked up well with the rest of the team and in the second half he was able to cause the Newcastle defence problems.
Semenyo is a quality player, it remains to be seen exactly how he will fit into this City side in the long term, but he has done his chances of starting in Saturday's Manchester derby no harm with his last two performances.
Much has been said about Trafford's return to City and how he was replaced in the side by Gianluigi Donnarumma so soon after signing in the summer. Some expect Trafford to move away from the club again soon and look for regular first team football.
There may have been some City fans who were surprised that Trafford was given the start ahead of Donnarumma in the semi final, but Guardiola stayed loyal to the keeper who had featured in the previous rounds.
As with any goalkeeper, he may have been under a bit of pressure coming into the side but it was a solid performance. He kept a clean sheet, did what was expected of him as Newcastle did not necessarily carve out on onslaught of chances.
That said, his save from Wissa's header was an important one and a very good save as he just got a hand on it to push it over the bar and prevent it creeping in.
One area of Donnarumma's game that has been questioned by some supporters in recent weeks is that, despite his height, he has not always looked convincing when coming for corners or balls into the box. For the most part, against Newcastle, Trafford looked confident and was able to get a strong punch on the ball on several occasions.
For a City side with a number of injuries across the backline in defence, a clean sheet will also be a big positive that they will take away from this game.
Strength of the squad made the difference in the end
Pep Guardiola does have injuries to contend with but he also has a strong squad, and the signing of Semenyo has improved it further.
In the second half, City were able to up their levels. It is also worth pointing out that it was a quiet night for star striker Erling Haaland as he did not see much of the ball in positions to cause defenders problems.
The players that they were able to bring on highlights their strength in depth. Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rodri and Rico Lewis all came on.
It was Cherki who scored the second and that could be the goal that makes all the difference. Also, it was possibly a signal of intent because most teams may decide to take the ball into the corner in the dying moments and simply see the game out with possession. City decided to go for that second goal and take some of the pressure off the second leg.
They will know that it is only half time in the tie, but they have put themselves in a good position.
VAR and the length of time taken
Regardless if the decision was correct or not, supporters of both clubs will likely argue that a five and a half minute delay whilst making the decision is not acceptable.
Fans inside the stadium are often left in the dark about what exactly is taking place and, sometimes, viewers at home on television do not have it much better either.
Some also criticise the fact that the referee was referred to the monitor to have a look himself, because this takes even longer and it is quite likely at that point that the referee will side with the VAR, as the doubt over his decision has been put into his head.
There is a lot that is said about the successes and failures of VAR and some may say that the fact City got their second goal, it means that the disallowed goal will not be talked about as much.
However, the length of time to make decisions is still something that will frustrate fans of all teams and will likely spark further debates around the effective use of the technology going forward.