Manchester City v Newcastle, Getty Images 04 February 2026, 23:58

The day before, almost in no time at all, we determined the first participant of the future final of the English League Cup, which was London Arsenal in the derby against Chelsea. And the very next day, it was necessary to find out the opponent for the match at Wembley for Mikel Arteta’s team. There were few options – only two: Manchester City or Newcastle. And if we take into account the events of three weeks ago at St. James Park, then one and a half – Josep Guardiola’s team then won by two goals (2:0).

So some additional confidence in the players of the “towns” before the game at the Etihad was still available. And this season for them, this factor still has a lot of weight. It remained to implement it, in which the hosts of the field were significantly helped by the banal luck that literally attracted their Egyptian striker Omar Marmush to himself.

Otherwise, the striker’s goals in the seventh minute, when the ball flew over Ramsdale after a ricochet from Bern’s tackle, and in the 29th minute, when the rebound from Trippier during Semenyo’s cross from the left wing of the free-kick into the distance landed right on the head of Marmoush in front of an empty net, and you can’t name it. And just three minutes after that, City killed any intrigue in this game with a third goal, but this time it was Rangers in the center of someone else’s possession who took advantage of the rebound from Semenyo’s shift from the right wing.

However, in this game there were not only goals from the team from Manchester. And also the great contribution of their goalkeeper Trafford to the fact that the “magpies” did not return to the fight in time. The young goalkeeper managed to save at least three attempts from Willock, Gordon and Wiss, and on another occasion he drew a trademark header from Botman. Therefore, in defense, Guardiola’s team had some interesting adventures.

And Newcastle even managed to score in the end in this game. But only once – in the 62nd minute, Elanga slipped past all the defenders during a rush from the right flank to the penalty area and ended this story with a shot under the far post. Not the last moment for the Swede in this game, but then another Scandinavian appeared, the Norwegian Erling Holland, and here we have to say that Ramsdale saved his team from an even more significant advantage of the opponents on the score. Although she was still convincing.

Cleveland’s Tony Herrington’s final whistle set up the 2025/26 FA Cup final pairing of Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley on March 22, as reigning trophy holders Newcastle bowed out early.

Manchester City — Newcastle 3:1 (first match – 2:0)
Goals: Marmush, 7, 29, Reynders, 32 — Elanga, 62

Manchester City: Trafford — Nunes, Khusanov, Ake (Alleyne, 46), Ait-Nuri — Reinders, Nico (Lewis, 83), O’Reilly (Rhodri, 71) — Foden (Sherky, 71), Marmouche, Semenyo (Holland, 71).