Omar Marmoush struck twice before the break as Manchester City eased their way into the EFL Cup final, setting up a showdown with title rivals Arsenal.
Manchester City booked their place in next month’s EFL Cup final with a comfortable 3–1 victory over Newcastle United in the semi-final second leg, sealing a 5–1 aggregate triumph and a meeting with Arsenal.
Marmoush netted an unconventional first-half brace inside 29 minutes at the Etihad Stadium before Tijjani Reijnders added a third to put the tie beyond doubt, with Anthony Elanga’s impressive solo effort after the interval offering little more than consolation for Newcastle.
Holding a 2–0 advantage from the first leg at St James’ Park and mindful of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool, Pep Guardiola rotated his side heavily, with Erling Haaland among six changes to the starting XI.
Despite the reshuffle, City showed no lack of sharpness and opened the scoring in the seventh minute, benefitting from a slice of fortune as Dan Burn’s challenge caused the ball to deflect off Marmoush and loop over Aaron Ramsdale.
Newcastle responded with Joe Willock forcing a save from James Trafford, but City doubled their lead shortly before the half-hour mark when Marmoush reacted quickest to nod home after Kieran Trippier’s miscued clearance sent Antoine Semenyo’s cross looping into the air.
City struck again just three minutes later, Reijnders finishing off a swift counter-attack that he initiated with a powerful run through midfield, before Newcastle’s woes deepened when Anthony Gordon was forced off injured late in the first half.
Eddie Howe rang the changes at the interval, introducing Yoane Wissa and Elanga among others, and while Wissa spurned two clear chances, Elanga cut inside and struck the post to pull one back for the visitors.
Marmoush later fired over when presented with an opportunity to complete his hat-trick, while Ramsdale produced an excellent save to deny Haaland after the striker was introduced from the bench.
Manchester City have now reached their 10th EFL Cup final, becoming only the fourth club to hit double figures in the competition, alongside Liverpool (15), Chelsea and Manchester United (both 10).
The victory also extended City’s dominance over Newcastle at the Etihad, where they have now won 12 consecutive home meetings in all competitions and 18 of the last 19 overall.
Marmoush’s early goals effectively settled the contest, marking the eighth time he has scored multiple goals in a match for a club from Europe’s top five leagues and the second time he has done so for City, both occasions coming against Newcastle.
