Welcome to the Manchester City v Newcastle preview.
Wednesday 4th February and an 8pm kick-off
The Toon travel to the Etihad in hope rather than expectation this Wednesday night.
Needing to overturn a two-goal deficit to reach their third League Cup final in four years.
Anyone looking for a positive omen would do well to remember we’ve only ever won once at this venue and that was in a League Cup tie, the score that night? 2-0.
Form
Newcastle have beaten Bradford, Spurs and Fulham in the League Cup so far this season before losing the first leg of this semi-final 2-0. We’ve scored eight goals and conceded three. We’ve lost only three League Cup matches over the past four years and are the current holders of the trophy.
Man City have seen off Huddersfield, Swansea and Brentford to make the semi-final and of course take a 2-0 lead into this second leg. They’ve scored nine goals and conceded one as they look to make their first League Cup final since 2021.
Last time out
The Toon travelled to Anfield on Saturday night and made an excellent start, swarming all over their opponents before Anthony Gordon scored a well-taken goal to give the Toon a fully deserved lead. Unfortunately, any notion that this was finally going to be our night at Anfield was soon dispelled by a brace from Ekiteke just a few minutes later. A long second half saw Newcastle concede twice more and go down to a deeply disappointing 4-1 defeat.
Man City played at Tottenham on Sunday afternoon and looked certain winners when taking a 2-0 lead into half-time. Unbelievably, back came Spurs to score two second-half goals and rescue a point.
Stat attack!
-Newcastle have never lost a League Cup semi-final, beating Tottenham in 1976, Southampton in 2023 and Arsenal in 2025, all over two legs.
-The Toon have won only once at the Etihad in thirty-two matches.
-NUFC have failed to find the net in the past seven away matches at Manchester City.
Memorable match
In October 2014, Alan Pardew took a young Newcastle team to the Etihad in search of their first ever win at the stadium. A fascinating subplot was provided by Ryan Taylor who started his first match in almost two years. It took just six minutes for teenage attacker Rolando Aarons to burst into the box and slip the ball past the Man City ‘keeper to put the Toon 1-0 against the League Cup holders. Man City were never going to take this lying down and Rob Elliot was forced into a fine save before Coloccini hit his own post as NUFC lived dangerously. Despite this, we were still unlucky not to take a two goal lead into the half-time break as we went close through local lads Dummett and Armstrong. The second half was a nervy affair and a massively controversial incident saw the Toon denied a blatant penalty when Obertan was hacked down from behind in the area. Newcastle’s place in the quarter-final was assured however with just fifteen minutes left to play, when Moussa Sissoko showed fancy footwork to glide past two defenders before beating the ‘keeper and giving us a 2-0 lead. The travelling Toon Army went wild in celebration and ironically took part in ‘the Poznan’ that Man City fans had become famous for a few years previously. This was an incredible victory and completely unexpected as Pardew’s side dreamed of an appearance in their first League Cup semi-final since 1976. To this day, it remains our only success at the Etihad. Man City 0-2 Newcastle.
Played for both
Stuart Pearce is one of the best footballers England has ever produced. He was near the twilight of his career when signing for NUFC in 1997. Often ridiculed as part of a ‘Dad’s Army’ brigade of Dalglish signings, Pearce became an integral part of the team and rifled home a fine free-kick in a 2-0 Champions League win against Dynamo Kiev. He also played in the 1998 FA Cup final as Newcastle made the showpiece occasion for the first time in twenty-four years. He began the next season by firing home a brilliant effort in a pre-season friendly at home to Juventus but the replacement of Dalglish with Ruud Gullit was the beginning of the end of his time at Newcastle and he didn’t play a match after December 1998. Forced to train with the reserves, Pearce went to West Ham for two years before spending the 01/02 season at Kevin Keegan’s Manchester City, captaining the club to promotion and scoring three goals in thirty-eight league appearances. He stayed on at the club as a coach and was made caretaker manager when Keegan left in 2005. He was then given the job permanently and lasted two seasons as Man City manager.
Darren Huckerby signed from Lincoln in 1995 but his chances of career development at the Toon were massively hindered by Keegan’s decision to scrap the reserve team due to a rule that they’d have to play some matches at St James’ Park. A little-known fact is that his signing inadvertently brought about Alan Shearer’s first ever NUFC goal. Part of the deal was that Newcastle would travel to Lincoln in the pre-season of 1996 and by that time we’d signed Mr Shearer who converted a penalty on his debut in a 2-0 win (Albert adding the second). Darren only made two appearances for Newcastle and was unlucky not to find the net during an impressive performance at home to Chelsea in the FA Cup. He went to Millwall on loan and played for both Coventry and Leeds before signing for Man City in 2000. He scored twenty-two goals in sixty-nine league games including a winner against Toon in 2002.
Stephen Ireland started his career at Manchester City in 2005 and spent five years at the Blues before signing for Aston Villa. He scored sixteen league goals for City including a late equaliser against the Toon in 2008. An amusing anecdote from Ireland’s career came in a match against our arch rivals Sunderland in 07/08 when he was still at Man City. After scoring the only goal of the game, Ireland (for reasons probably best kept to himself) dropped his shorts to reveal some rather tight superman underpants! The FA failed to see the funny side and there was even talk of banning him, before a decision was made that a warning would suffice. He signed on loan for Newcastle in 2010 but struggled with fitness and only made two appearances for the black and whites.
Managers
Eddie Howe after a 4-1 defeat away at Liverpool:
“We are really disappointed because I thought it was a strong performance. 4-1 is really hard on us. We scored a great goal, started really strongly and we were a strong counter attack threat. Got to give Hugo Ekitike credit, but our organisation is usually good; we haven’t covered ourselves in glory. Key moments in the game let us down and we’re kicking ourselves. Our athleticism was strong. Set plays we maybe didn’t execute as well as we could have done. 4-1 looks comfortable and I don’t think it was for Liverpool. We wanted to go for real pace against their backline. That was the idea behind selection. Anthony Gordon played really well. Not just his goal but his all-around play, his athleticism, and his technical ability, I think it helped the team. We gave them problems”
Pep Guardiola after a 2-2 draw away at Tottenham:
“After their opening goal they had the momentum for fifteen, twenty minutes. This is normal, 2-0 down, nothing to lose with the energy of this crowd that they have, the physicality they have.
“But after the last fifteen, twenty minutes, we came back again and we played the first half really good. We missed the actions one versus one with full-backs where people up front were not able to capitalise these actions, but, in general, the game was well played.”
Charity
As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end, for the food bank. However, you can still help out and all online cash donations are very much appreciated. For further info and/or to donate to the food bank online.
Prediction
If Newcastle can pull this one off, then our dreams really will come true! I fancy a strong performance from the Toon and think we’ll take an early lead to raise hopes of a truly triumphant evening. Unfortunately, at some point, reality will intervene and Manchester City will come back to deny NUFC further League Cup glory. Man City 2-1 Newcastle (4-1 on aggregate).
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