![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768163050_383_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Rayan Cherki delivered what could be the knockout blow to the holders in the 98th minute.<\/p>\n
The Magpies ended a 70-year wait for a domestic trophy by winning the League Cup last season, but will need a heroic fightback to reach Wembley when the sides meet again for the second leg of the semi-final on February 4.<\/p>\n
Semenyo also scored on his debut on Saturday in a 10-1 demolition of Exeter in the FA Cup.<\/p>\n
In previous years he would have been cup-tied after featuring for Bournemouth earlier in the competition.<\/p>\n
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe made clear his dissatisfaction before the game with a rule change this season that allows players to play for two clubs in the one campaign and City took full advantage.<\/p>\n
Guardiola showed his desire to reach the final for the first time since 2021 as Erling Haaland made a first League Cup start in three years in a strong City selection just days before they visit Manchester United in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
Manchester City’s French midfielder #10 Rayan Cherki (2R) and Manchester City’s Ghanaian midfielder #42 Antoine Semenyo (2L) embrace on the pitch.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
Yoane Wissa blazed a glorious early chance over the bar as Newcastle roared out of the blocks in front of a packed St. James\u2019 Park.<\/p>\n
But that was the closest either side came in a cagey first half. City goalkeeper James Trafford had been a long-term target for Newcastle prior to his return to the Etihad from Burnley in July.<\/p>\n
The England under-21 international has had to play second fiddle to Gianluigi Donnarumma for most of the season but proved his worth with a stunning save to claw away Wissa\u2019s looping header early in the second half.<\/p>\n
Alonso leaves Madrid after 7 months | 00:34<\/p>\n
Seconds later, Bruno Guimaraes blasted against the post as Newcastle pressed for the opening.<\/p>\n
But they were caught with a sucker punch at the other end when Jeremy Doku sped towards the by-line and his cross was turned by Bernardo Silva into the path of Semenyo to prod home from close range.<\/p>\n
Semenyo thought he had a third City goal in two appearances when he acrobatically flicked in from a corner.<\/p>\n
However, after a VAR review lasting over five minutes, the officials finally adjudged that Haaland had prevented Malick Thiaw\u2019s ability to play the ball from an offside position.<\/p>\n
The decision left the football world in a state of anger and shock. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to tell you, I think the game\u2019s gone. Thiaw was never going to react to that. It\u2019s a sheer guess from the referee,\u201d Chris Sutton said on Sky Sports. <\/p>\n
Manchester City star Bernado Silva was almost lost for words when speaking to ITV Sport. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what to say, I don\u2019t want to say too much because we know how these things work. I saw it, it looked really close to me but it is what it is. It is so frustrating because the last time we came here we also had a lot of decisions go against us,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cEven though we won it was just frustrating to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
The vociferous home crowd celebrated the let-off like a goal but their side failed to find the net despite a late flurry of chances for Nick Woltemade.<\/p>\n
And City\u2019s threat on the counter-attack was finally realised when Cherki swept in Rayan Ait-Nouri\u2019s low cross to secure a commanding first-leg lead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Antoine Semenyo made himself an instant Manchester City hero as Pep Guardiola\u2019s men took a giant stride towards…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[6074,2620,64,63,217593,78343,27599,70373,33861,217589,12018,1208,2057,596,42903,217587,42230,217588,217592,217585,8099,217590,11999,6255,12002,3583,217584,1614,43269,217586,2643,85,113716,36336,3586,217591,67624],"class_list":["post-411297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-africa","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bernado-silva","tag-bernardo-silva","tag-chris-sutton","tag-city-goalkeeper","tag-close-range","tag-domestic-trophy","tag-eddie-howe","tag-england","tag-europe","tag-football","tag-football-world","tag-french-midfielder","tag-ghana","tag-ghanaian-midfielder","tag-giant-stride","tag-instant-hit","tag-james-trafford","tag-jeremy-doku","tag-manchester-city-football-club","tag-manchester-united-football-club","tag-newcastle-united-football-club","tag-northern-europe","tag-pep-fury","tag-premier-league","tag-real-madrid-c-f","tag-semi-final-scores","tag-sky-sports","tag-sports","tag-sucker-punch","tag-things-work","tag-united-kingdom","tag-vociferous-home-crowd","tag-western-africa-sub-saharan-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}