{"id":694353,"date":"2026-01-14T01:37:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T01:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/694353\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T01:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T01:37:21","slug":"antoine-semenyos-flying-start-proves-he-is-manchester-citys-latest-big-game-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/694353\/","title":{"rendered":"Antoine Semenyo\u2019s flying start proves he is Manchester City\u2019s latest big game player"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Knocked out of the Carabao Cup<\/a> in August, Antoine Semenyo<\/a> may be taking Manchester City<\/a> to the final of it. And if that made little sense, the rule change that allowed players to represent two clubs in the competition this season had irritated Eddie Howe<\/a> even before Manchester City<\/a>\u2019s latest signing threatened to end Newcastle\u2019s defence of their first major trophy since the 1960s. <\/p>\n

In previous years, he would have been cup-tied. Not now. \u201cThe rules are the rules,\u201d said Howe, but a rewrite to them came at a bad time for Newcastle. Semenyo\u2019s part in Bournemouth\u2019s summer defeat to Brentford might be no impediment to claiming a winner\u2019s medal. His first-leg strike, coupled with Rayan Cherki\u2019s 99th-minute second, means City can envisage a March date with Arsenal or Chelsea at Wembley. \u201cFirst step to reach the final,\u201d said Pep Guardiola. Newcastle need a turnaround at the Etihad next month and it is a bogey ground. \u201cWe haven\u2019t got a good record there, I haven\u2019t good a good record there but records are there to be broken,\u201d said Howe. \u201cWe are still alive, still fighting.\u201d <\/p>\n

But they are likely to face a stronger City team in Manchester. Guardiola had a \u00a362.5m addition to their attack but a makeshift look to the back half of his team. City won anyway. But it helps to have the financial muscle to sign a player coveted by Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United. <\/p>\n

If a debut goal against Exeter was scarcely proof Semenyo is worth his sizeable fee, this was a bigger indication City\u2019s money has been well spent. This was an indication the biggest signing of the winter window so far is a big-game player. <\/p>\n

Not since Emmanuel Adebayor in 2009 had a player scored in his first two games for City, though Semenyo may not want to emulate some other elements of the Togolese\u2019s time in Manchester. But this has been a flying start. He already has a song the supporters chorused. <\/p>\n

His goal was a reward for Guardiola\u2019s policy of picking out-and-out wingers. One scored a goal, set up by another. Jeremy Doku accelerated past Lewis Miley to cross, Bernardo Silva diverted it into the path of Semenyo and he had a tap-in. \u201cEvery time the ball arrives to him, he always is there,\u201d said Guardiola. <\/p>\n

\"Antoine<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Antoine Semenyo sent Man City ahead with a fine finish in the second half (PA)\"Semenyo's<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Semenyo’s second goal was ruled out by a controversial VAR decision (PA)<\/p>\n

Semenyo thought he had a third goal in his first two games, courtesy of an improvised finish, with an attempted backheel, from Tijjani Reijnders\u2019s corner. Following an interminable VAR check, Erling Haaland was adjudged offside. \u201cIt should have been 3-0,\u201d said Silva. \u201cFour officials and VAR were not able to take the decision,\u201d said Guardiola. He felt his players were \u201cangry\u201d. They channelled it. <\/p>\n

But it was only because of that six-minute hiatus that the game was still going when City eventually doubled their lead, thanks to a combination of summer signings and Rayans. A one-two between Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri began with a lovely flick from the No 10 and, after a low cross from the Algerian, ended with an adept finish. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the chances to make that a very different scoreline,\u201d said Howe. Missed opportunities included one that was wild, two that came agonisingly close. Yoane Wissa sliced a fifth-minute shot over the bar, when City were opened up by Jacob Murphy\u2019s cross. Wissa was preferred to Nick Woltemade, but Murphy, their most creative player in the first half, went off injured seconds before the interval. <\/p>\n

\"Yoane<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Yoane Wissa missed a great chance early in the first half (Getty)\"Jacob<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Jacob Murphy picked up a hamstring injury on Tuesday (Getty)<\/p>\n

Newcastle nevertheless had more attacking intent after it. Before Semenyo struck, they hit the woodwork twice within seconds. First Anthony Gordon crossed, Wissa produced a looping header and James Trafford, forever a Newcastle target, tipped it on to the bar. Then Bruno Guimaraes thudded a shot from 20 yards against the post. <\/p>\n

They exerted plenty of effort in their search for an equaliser, and Sven Botman had attempts blocked by Trafford and Semenyo. Sandro Tonali came off the bench to drill a shot wide. <\/p>\n

But Newcastle were annoyed Jacob Ramsey was off the bench when Semenyo provided the breakthrough and could regret the dullness of the start. There had been a surfeit of drama at St James\u2019 Park in the last week. Maybe fatigue got the better of them as the first half was the antidote to the 4-3 and the 3-3, the rush of 13 goals. City belatedly mustered their first shot in stoppage time, and even afterwards Nick Pope\u2019s first save was to spare Gordon an own goal. <\/p>\n

\"Rayan<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Rayan Cherki struck a blow late in stoppage time as Man City won the game 2-0 (Reuters)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Newcastle were frustrated by the unlikely alliance at the back for City. Abdukodir Khusanov and Max Alleyne, aged 21 and 20, the Uzbek and the son of a cricketer, excelled together. <\/p>\n

Ahead of them, Nico O\u2019Reilly had to do his Rodri impression at the base of the midfield. With Nico Gonzalez injured, the other Nico was the third-choice defensive midfielder. Guardiola had seemed to prioritise the Manchester derby by benching Rodri, Reijnders and Cherki. But each appeared in the second half and a strategy of bringing on class was justified by Cherki\u2019s goal. Wembley beckons for them, but not this year for Newcastle. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-694353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115890898190355508","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}