Manchester City 3-1 Newcastle: Marmoush wins Arsenal final

Manchester City qualified for the EFL Cup final at the end Newcastle Uniteddefense of the title with a comfortable 3-1 victory in the second leg of their semi-final.

Newcastle went into the match with a mountain to climb after a 2-0 first-leg defeat at St James' Park, but two fortuitous goals from Omar Marmoush effectively ended their hopes of retaining the trophy they won at Wembley last March.

Despite some promising attacking moments from Newcastle, the match quickly turned into a damage limitation mission after Tijjani Reijnders extended City's already comfortable lead.

Yet Newcastle suffered further damage when Anthony Gordon was forced off the field with a hamstring injury before half-time.

The Magpies improved in the second half and were rewarded with Anthony Elanga's first goal for the club. They had the chance to make the overall scoreline more flattering, but Newcastle will have to turn their hopes to other competitions after City easily booked a final at Wembley with Premier League leaders Arsenal next month.

Marmoush makes the most of Newcastle's misfortune

Newcastle had a very early indicator that this would not be their night when Marmoush opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a goal they knew little about.

The Egyptian was played behind and ran down the left channel. Dan Burn came to cover, but his sliding tackle saw the ball deflect off Marmoush and pass to the helpless Aaron Ramsdale.

Newcastle had a chance to respond, but were thwarted by a goalkeeper they attempted to sign this summer in James Trafford.

Trafford, replacing the rested Gianluigi Donnarumma, did superbly to prevent Joe Willock from rounding him after some neat build-up play from Nick Woltemade and Gordon, which was then denied by a fine save after Newcastle had gone the direct route of a goal kick.

Newcastle's frustration deepened when the impressive Reijnders played in Antoine Semenyo and, after Kieran Trippier failed to send his attempted clearance skyward, Marmoush was on hand to nod home from close range.

There was a slightly lesser degree of fortune regarding City's third, which came as the hosts once again effectively beat Newcastle's press. Reijnders invaded acres of space on the counter and, after Burn's challenge on Semenyo fell his way, the Dutchman slotted into the bottom right corner with consummate ease.

After Gordon limped off to be replaced by Harvey Barnes, Eddie Howe made three more half-time changes aimed at protecting his side ahead of two key Premier League matches with Brentford and Tottenham.

Manchester City put together a mouth-watering final

Jacob Murphy, Elanga and Yoane Wissa were all thrown into the fray and the latter should have scored after a terrible defensive error to start City's second half.

Reijnders missed a golden opportunity to make it 4-0, before Newcastle made the scoreline more respectable with their first goal at the Etihad Stadium since 2018.

Elanga opened his account late on for Newcastle as he cut in from the right on a rushed run into the box and curled an unerring finish onto the post.

Harvey Barnes then saw a goal rightly ruled out for offside, but then appeared to be onside when he passed and squared for Elanga, only for the Swede to go wide with the goal at his mercy.

Marmoush seized a glorious opportunity to complete a hat-trick and, after Elanga flashed an effort across goal at the other end, substitute Erling Haaland was denied by two fine saves from Ramsdale.

Haaland's frustration was a mere footnote, however. City can look forward to a mouth-watering final with the Gunners. Newcastle, meanwhile, will eventually be able to reflect on an impressive defense of the trophy before a draw that proved too far away.