Pep Guardiola reaction to Antoine Semenyo goal speaks volumes for Man City

Manchester City were struggling to stay positive last week amid injuries piling up but Antoine Semenyo has helped change the mood

It was suggested that Antoine Semenyo's arrival would move Manchester City further away from the possession monsters that first conquered English football under Pep Guardiola eight years ago. At Newcastle, he converted a backpost tap-in that would have made the eyes of Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling light up.

Semenyo may not have lit up City's season yet but the £62.5m signing has certainly sparked new energy into them in just five days. A goal and assist on debut against League One side Exeter may have been little to write home about, but scoring the opening goal of a Carabao Cup semi-final is exactly the sort of impact that City dreamed he could have as they left St. James' with a 2-0 win.

Guardiola maintained that the spirit of the squad was alive last week when injuries had contributed to them dropping six points across three consecutive Premier League games, but City were weakened enough for the manager to prioritise the Premier League. With Nico Gonzalez injured, Rodri started on the bench at Newcastle with Nico O'Reilly thrust into the No.6 role.

It worked well enough in a fiery first half that saw both sides size each other up. Yoane Wissa blazed over an early chance for the home team but otherwise City held their own as Jeremy Doku caused so many problems he swiftly became marked by multiple opponents whenever he got the ball.

James Trafford chose City over Newcastle last summer when leaving Burnley and while his dream became a nightmare when Gianluigi Donnarumma came on deadline day, he showed his immense quality ahead of a summer transfer window where Newcastle may come calling again. Wissa thought he had opened the scoring early in the second half, only for the City keeper to claw the ball away.

Soon after, City were ahead through Semenyo and it was then that Guardiola really sensed the opportunity his side had. Before Newcastle had kicked off, he had given Nathan Ake the message to convey to O'Reilly and Matheus Nunes not to get a second yellow card and within 10 minutes both had been substituted as City looked to preserve their lead.

They thought they had added to it thanks to some Semenyo brilliance from a corner, only for it to be ruled out after an excruciatingly long VAR check that also saw Chris Kavanagh sent to the monitor. Maybe it was better explained on TV, but nobody who had paid for tickets knew why it had been disallowed other than being told that Erling Haaland was offside.

That got Newcastle back into a game they had been danger of falling out of, and they threw the kitchen sink at City in the final half-hour to try and find an equaliser. The young Blues held out though, and they will host Newcastle in three weeks time knowing even a defeat could be enough to take them to Wembley and the chance of a trophy.

Semenyo has City believing again - and Cherki's late goal has them halfway to Wembley.