If this were a boxing match, the referee would’ve called off the fight in the first round.
Heading into the game 2-0 down from Man City’s first leg win at St James’ Park, it was absolutely essential Newcastle got the opening goal. Score first and it was game on. Concede first and it was game over.
Sadly, we did the latter just seven minutes in, as Omar Marmoush deflected in via Dan Burn to make it 3-0 with the home side’s first attack. Another sloppy goal conceded and the nightmare start.
We could and should have pulled one back, as Joe Willock and Anthony Gordon both wasted huge opportunities after going clean through on goal, only for former Toon target James Trafford to smother both efforts before saving a Kieran Trippier free-kick Lewis Hall did brilliantly to win.
If those opportunities gave us hope, any chance of a miracle comeback was then wiped out on the half hour mark, as Trippier failed to clear Antoine Semenyo’s cross, allowing Marmoush to head into an empty net with Aaron Ramsdale nowhere to be seen. 2-0 on the night, 4-0 on aggregate and it would only get worse.
Three minutes later, Botman was dragged out of position after pressing high, Man City exploited the mounds of space left behind our midfield, Semenyo burst into the box and the ball fell to Reijnders to score. More shambolic defending, leaving us 5-0 down on aggregate with an hour of the tie still left to play.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Gordon became the latest injury casualty as he went down holding his hamstring before the break. An absolute nightmare at the start of a massive month for Newcastle, seeing Harvey Barnes come on in his place.
With six more games to come in February across the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, it was no surprise to see Howe make half-time changes, seeing Hall, Willock and Woltemade replaced by Jacob Murphy, Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa, who missed a sitter to pull a goal back within 30 seconds of the restart. We’d been a mess defensively and AWOL in midfield, but that was our third huge chance wasted.
A Wissa penalty appeal was waved away and City should’ve then made it 4-0 (6-0) at the other end, as Reijnders found acres of space in the box (again) only to fire wide.
Anthony Elanga fires home to get Newcastle on the board in the Semi-Final 💥 pic.twitter.com/qr8cYLD6VE
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) February 4, 2026
Then came the biggest positive of an otherwise miserable night; Anthony Elanga’s first goal for Newcastle United! The Swede burst into the box, cut in on his left foot and curled a lovely finish in off the post. A potentially huge moment for our new right winger, who is finally up and running, coring our first goal at the Etihad since DeAndre Yedlin’s in 2018.
Barnes then had the ball in the net before an offside flag ruled it out, then Elanga missed an absolute sitter to make it 3-2, firing wide from Barnes’ low cross when the goal was gaping. We’d been far brighter in the second half, but it was another miss on a night of mistakes at both ends of the pitch.
Then came Erling Haaland, Rodri and Rayan Cherki from Man City’s bench, minutes before our final change saw Will Osula replace Trippier, seeing Jacob Murphy move to a right wing-back role or the final stages of the match.
Elanga then came close again, going inches away as Wissa almost tapped home his ball cross the goal mouth, then Haaland forced a brilliant save from Ramsdale after the big Norwegian burst clean through. On another night, we could’ve easily seen eight or nine goals, with both sides missing a host of big opportunities in each half.
But 3-1 on the night and 5-1 on aggregate was how it ended, seeing Newcastle punished for a sloppy end to the home tie and horrendous start to tonight’s away leg.
No Wembley trip this season and another worrying away performance, especially with four of our next five games coming away from St James’ Park in this potentially season-defining month of February.
(5-3-2) Newcastle XI: Ramsdale – Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Burn, Hall – Willock, Ramsey, Tonali – Gordon, Woltemade.
Subs: Pope, Wissa, Barnes, Osula, Elanga, J.Murphy, A.Murphy, Shahar, Neave
Man City XI: Trafford – Nunes, Khusanov, Ake , Ait-Nouri – Gonzalez, Reijnders, O’Reilly – Semenyo, Foden, Marmoush