Jamie Jackson was at the Etihad, while Andy Brassell was at St James’ Park, and both of their match reports are in. Here they are, along with a reminder of the semi-final draw. Thanks for reading this edition of SuperClocko™, incorporating the very first runout for our patented Three-Half MBM System©!
Chelsea v Arsenal or Crystal Palace
Newcastle United v Manchester City
The first legs, hosted by Chelsea and Newcastle, will be played week commencing 12 January 2026. The return legs will be held week commencing 2 February 2026. The final will take place at Wembley on Sunday 22 March 2026.
In the wake of the earlier quarter final, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola spoke to Sky Sports … “Thank you to the incredible fans on a difficult day … windy … rain … they were wet like they were … thank you for coming to be with us … we are happy to be in the semi-final.”
… as did his Brentford counterpart Keith Andrews, who was measured but also displeased with the officials after Abdukodir Khusanov’s controversial challenge on Kevin Schade. “The performance levels were really good … a very tough place to come … we played with a lot of courage … a lot of bravery … the players are so good to work with … so intelligent … I think [Khusanov’s challenge] was a red … they’ve made a mistake, the officials … I’m very quick to support officials … they have a very difficult job … the explanation given was [Schade’s] touch was too big and going away from goal … I don’t see that at all … he’s going straight through .. it’s a crazy tackle and he takes him out … I don’t see it any other way than being a red card.”
The semi-final draw
The draw has been made by Jamie Redknapp and Shay Given (pictured below) and is as follows:
Chelsea v Arsenal or Crystal Palace
Newcastle United v Manchester City
The first legs, hosted by Chelsea and Newcastle, will be played week commencing 12 January 2026. The return legs will be held week commencing 2 February 2026. The final will take place at Wembley on Sunday 22 March 2026.
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The draw was scheduled to take place at 10.30pm … but the Football League always faff about ahead of these things. It’ll surely be coming soon … and indeed it’s just been announced that, after an advertising break on Sky Sports, it’ll be on. Sit tight!
Marco Silva’s turn to speak to Sky. “We have to praise the commitment … the attitude … the work ethic … difficult when you lose the way you lost … all that hard work … it takes more time to recover … but it is football … the first half was better than the second … some good moments … very tough for us to lose … this season has been very tough for us … [we have] a very [small] squad … it is not an excuse, it is what it is … we wanted to be in the semi-finals … the players were brave … tonight [Newcastle] were able to refresh their entire front line … it is completely different realities.”
Eddie Howe speaks to Sky Sports. “Really pleased … a tough game … we controlled the game … Fulham are a good team and had their moments but we deserved to win … a brilliant performance [from Lewis Miley] from a talented young player … he’s taking his game to another level … nights like that can only help him … Yoane [Wissa] getting his goal is a brilliant moment for him … he took it superbly … he can only get better for the match minutes … it was important to bounce back from [the Sunderland defeat] … we want to win trophies … we had such a great experience last year, we’re keen to do it again … but we know with the teams left in it, it’s not going to be easy.”
As for the injured Tino Livramento, Howe reports that “it doesn’t look good … a worrying sign … it would be a huge blow.”
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Lewis Miley – a local lad, 19 years young – has just put his team into the semi-finals of a major competition. He’s been named player of the match, not just for scoring the late winner, but also for taking most touches of any player (91) and here he is talking to Sky Sports. “It was a great feeling … I just thought I’d try to flick it on … lovely when it went into the back of the net … I was absolutely buzzing … we had a couple of chances that didn’t go in but that one did … it’s an unreal feeling … I grew up here … hopefully we can progress to the final … we won it last season and hopefully we can do it this year again … the last result wasn’t good for us but this tonight was good.”
From Miley to smiley, and the other goalscorer, a delighted Yoane Wissa, positively beaming after scoring his first goal for Newcastle on his first start, adds: “It’s top … I did enjoy today … there’s a lot of work to do … happy for the win today … I knew [St James’ Park] was special but now playing with the number nine on my back, it is different! … quite happy today! … to win the cup is something special … they did it last year … I wasn’t there [cracks even bigger grin] so now I want to do it!”
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That wasn’t the highest-quality football match you’ll ever witness … but it was hard-fought, dramatic, and good fun from start to finish. Newcastle edge it in dramatic style, and keep a hold of their trophy for another couple of months. Fulham’s long wait for their first major silverware goes on. The FA Cup, perhaps. Anyway, the Toon join Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal/Crystal Palace in the velvet bag for the semi-final draw … which is coming up here soon. Stay tuned!
FULL TIME: Newcastle United 2-1 Fulham
Newcastle do a last-gasp number on Fulham at St James’ Park for the second time this season … and the holders make it through to the semi-finals!
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90 min +7: Fulham win a throw deep in Toon territory down the right. Tete flings it in … but it’s too loopy, and Alex Murphy clears. But Tete reclaims possession, and sends a rising screamer towards the top left from 25 yards! Inches high and wide with Ramsdale at full stretch. So close to forcing penalties!
90 min +6: Tonali sticks a cheeky elbow into Reed’s neck from behind. No VAR. Had there been … well, you never know. Completely pointless.
90 min +5: Newcastle so, so close. There should be an extra minute or two for the goal and the celebration, mind.
90 min +4: Traore loops a cross in from the left. Ramsdale leaps to claim. The crowd whoop and holler. St James’ Park was a pensive place moments ago. Not now!
90 min +3: Kusi-Asare comes on for Berge as, with time running out, Fulham flick a switch to go into Kitchen Sink Mode.
GOAL! Newcastle United 2-1 Fulham (Miley 90+2)
… the resulting corner comes in from the left. Brilliant whipped delivery by Ronali. Miley rises at the near stick, and eyebrows adroitly across Lecomte and into the net! St James’ Park erupts!
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90 min +1: Apparently the last meaningful shots in this game were taken on 66 minutes, one from Livramento, the next by Smith Rowe. But finally, another, as Tonali and Woltemade combine to tee up Miley near the penalty spot. Miley curls a shot towards the bottom-left corner. He’s denied by a brilliant Lecomte save, but not for long because …
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90 min: There will be six additional minutes.
89 min: Both teams are playing on the edge. Nerves winning out. Close control a thing of the past. It’s business time!
87 min: Newcastle are on the attack when Wilson steals the ball and barrels off down the right. The home side are fortunate that only King keeps up with Wilson, and the striker can’t be found with a crossfield pass. For a split second there, Newcastle hearts were in mouths.
86 min: Wilson cynically clips the ankle of Ramsey, who was looking to make good down the left. Wilson somehow escapes a yellow card, and has the chutzpah to complain about the award of a free kick. Nothing comes of the set piece.
85 min: Another double change by Newcastle, as Gordon replaces Barnes on the left, and Elanga replaces Jacob Murphy on the right.
84 min: … nothing happens, but the anxiety among the home fans at SJP is palpable.
83 min: The free kick finds Andersen on the right-hand side of the six-yard box. Fulham’s captain heads into the mixer. Thiaw is forced to head behind for a corner. From which …
82 min: Miley steals the ball off the advancing Traore, near the left-hand corner flag … then gifts it back to Robinson. Newcastle are fortunate that Robinson, drifting in from the left, hesitates and fails to get a shot away, but then Woltemade slides in late on Tete, conceding a free kick 30 yards out. The big striker goes into the book.
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80 min: Jacob Murphy crosses from the right. He has Woltemade and Barnes in good positions, but finds neither, sending a ball that’s neither one thing nor the other out for a goal kick.
78 min: Sky flash up a stat that won’t make for good reading to Newcastle fans. They’ve let in ten goals in the last 15 minutes this season, a total only matched in the Premier League by Burnley and Nottingham Forest. By way of balance, they did score a 90th-minute winner here against Fulham in October, so what you lose on the swings, you gain on the roundabouts.
76 min: Livramento has tweaked something while overstretching for the ball. He’s able to walk off, but trudges down the tunnel sadly. Alex Murphy comes on in his stead.
74 min: Fulham respond with a double sub of their own, replacing Smith Rowe and Kevin with King and Traore.
72 min: Here comes that double change. Willock and Wissa are replaced Tonali and Woltemade. The latter, the Sandy Brown de nos jours, is cheered to the rafters as he takes to the pitch, with his name chanted immediately after.
71 min: Barnes is having a good game out on the left. I wonder how many goals he’ll score for Scotland in next year’s World Cup?
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69 min: Barnes sashays in from the left and tries to fins Murphy, coming in from the right. The pass is overhit and sails out for a goal kick. Some groans. Newcastle are preparing a couple of changes. Redemption for Nick Woltemade coming up?
68 min: Smith-Rowe flaps a weak shot straight at Ramsdale from 25 yards. That was a half a chance from a pocket of space. But he does better when cushioning Robinson’s left-wing cross into the road of the in-rushing Wilson … only for the Toon defence to close ranks just in the nick of time. This match really could go either way.
66 min: Barnes spins into space and feeds Livramento the left. Livramento’s low cross-cum-shot from a tight angle is snaffled by Lecomte. That quick one-two has got the crowd going again.
65 min: Guimaraes slips a pass down the right flank for Murphy, who delivers a first-time low cross into the six-yard box, hoping to find the lurking Wissa. Lecomte dives but misses. Andersen doesn’t though, running the ball into his own net. But the own goal won’t stand, because Murphy was clearly offside. The decision instant and correct.
64 min: The game, having restarted, becomes a bit scrappy. Newcastle are seeing more of the ball, though.
62 min: Both teams take advantage of the pause in play to take on some water, plus additional tactical instruction. Willock looks to be fine, by the way. He’s back up already, having spent most of this break retying his bootlaces.
60 min: … although having said that, Fulham break upfield from it. Wilson tries to release Smith Rowe into the box on the right with a diagonal curler, but overhits the pass. Then Willock is clipped around the lug, accidentally so, but play stops for the head injury.
59 min: Barnes crosses low from the left. Not for the first time, Lecomte drops and parries in an uncertain fashion, but this time Wissa isn’t around to slot. The ball’s hectically swiped behind for a corner, from which nothing occurs.
57 min: There’s a minor brouhaha as Fulham take an absolute age over a free kick. The referee gives Andersen the what-for, but there’s no yellow card yet. Expect one to be flashed should Fulham try it on again, and for some extra time to be tacked onto the end of the match.
55 min: The atmosphere is slightly muted at St James’. Newcastle are getting as much as they’re giving, with Fulham in a determined mood, and the home fans are a tad worried. They waited 56 years for a trophy; they don’t want to give it up quite yet.
53 min: One match left, so this is usually where NFL RedZone tells you to bugger off and seek out your local affiliate. That doesn’t happen with the Guardian’s SuperClocko™ Three-Half MBM System©, though! Stay with us for the conclusion of the Toon-Fulham match. All eyes on St James’ Park now!
FULL TIME: Manchester City 2-0 Brentford
The eight-time winners join Chelsea in the velvet bag for tonight’s semi-final draw. They were the better side, albeit fortunate Abdukodir Khusanov got away with an early opportunity-denying challenge on Kevin Schade that might have earned a red card. After that, the cream rose to the top. Number nine still on!
49 min +2: NEW 1-1 FUL. Wilson whips a cross in from the right. Jimenez mistimes his leap for a header, but still confuses Ramsdale to the extent that the keeper scrambles in a panic towards his left-hand post. Fortunately for Newcastle, the ball flies wide.
47 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. Reed’s first act is to clatter into Ramsey, and he’s slightly fortunate not to go into the book quicksmart.
90 min: MC 2-0 BRE. Manchester City are three additional minutes away from the semi-finals.
89 min: MC 2-0 BRE. Events at the Etihad continue to drift to their inevitable conclusion.
Newcastle get the third second half underway at SJP. Fulham have made a change, replacing Lukic with Reed.
86 min: MC 2-0 BRE. Schade, who has been a thorn in City’s side all evening, grinds his way along the left wing, from a position deep inside his own half, nearly breaking through on goal. Nunes cynically yanks him down at the expense of a yellow card. There were covering defenders this time, to be fair.
83 min: MC 2-0 BRE. Brentford can’t get to the ball. City are guiding this horse home.
81 min: MC 2-0 BRE. Phil Foden, once a teenage midfield prodigy, is replaced by academy-honed debutant Charlie Gray, 19, a teenage etc., and so on, and so forth.
79 min MC 2-0 BRE. A smaller club needs a bit of luck if they’re to get a result away from home against a giant. Brentford haven’t had any of it, Khusanov getting away with denying Schade a goalscoring opportunity, Ajer deflecting Savinho’s shot along a trippy parabola and into the net. Then again, Cherki’s goal was world class, and Brentford haven’t done that much since some brisk early play. A real sense things are now just drifting to their conclusion at the Etihad.
76 min: MC 2-0 BRE. City send a corner in from the right. The ball falls between Ake and Gvardiol, neither of whom can adjust to swivel and steer an effort goalless. “I’m not one of those people who hate all green football shirts, for example the Werder Bremen kits are usually lovely,” begins Kári Tulinius. “However, I had to go deeper than I’ve ever gone into my TV set’s settings menu to adjust the picture so that Fulham’s players didn’t disappear into the pitch or look like they were floating on top of it.”
75 min: MC 2-0 BRE. Brentford make a couple of changes, sending on Hickey and Lewis-Potter for Kayode and Henry.
73 min: MC 2-0 BRE. Savinho dribbles down the right and shoots low again, but doesn’t get the lucky deflection this time. Valdimarsson gathers.
HALF TIME: Newcastle United 1-1 Fulham
Both sides are applauded off. That was good fun.
45 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. There will be one additional minute at St James’ Park. This first half (the second of three in our fancy new Three-Half MBM System©) has simply flown by!
43 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. Newcastle are finishing the half strongly. Murphy nearly finds Wissa in the six-yard box with a low cross that’s poked away from the striker by Andersen. Then he meets Barnes’s long left-wing cross with a volley, but that effort is blocked.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Brentford (Savinho 67)
Savinho looks to have settled the tie at the Etihad! He dribbles down the inside-left channel, this way and that, before entering the box and shooting low. The ball pings off the leg of Ajer, sliding in to block, looping on a hysterical arc over Valdimarsson and into the top-right corner!
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66 min: MC 1-0 BRE. City make a triple change, replacing O’Reilly, Gonzalez and the goalscorer Cherki with Gvardiol, Silva and Nunes.
64 min: MC 1-0 BRE. Foden jinks his way into the box down the left and shapes a little bit like Zizou in the 2002 Champions League final, adjusting his body in an attempt to steer across Valdimarsson and into the bottom right. Blocked.
37 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. Some pinball in the Fulham box, and the ball nearly drops to Wissa again. Not quite. Livramento tries to plant a curler into the top-right corner but miscues. This is an open and entertaining game, and good luck predicting which way it’s going to go.
36 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. Jimenez has the opportunity to release Wilson down the right, but hesitates, allowing Ramsey to dispossess him. Wilson leaps around in great frustration, denied another opportunity to run clear on goal by some faffing from his team-mates.
60 min: MC 1-0 BRE. Brentford certainly haven’t given up on this. Schade drives at Khusanov but the defender holds his ground. Then Henry nearly makes it into the box down the left, but again Khusanov snuffs out the danger. Khusanov is much improved on his earlier skittish self. A reminder that he should have been sent packing in the early stages.
32 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. Barnes tries a curler from the left-hand corner of the Fulham box, but gets it all wrong. Goal kick.
31 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. Jimenez slides in on Miley, who was sizing up a long-range shot only to start snoozing. Kevin takes up the loose ball, and has the opportunity to release Wilson clear on goal from the halfway line, but clanks a simple pass into the nearest defender. Newcastle get away with a big one there.
30 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. Lukic is booked for tugging back Ramsey. No real need, because Ramsey was going nowhere. On the touchline, Marco Silva gives his take to the assistant referee.
54 min: MC 1-0 BRE. Ajer strides into space down the inside-right channel and sends a fine rising drive towards the top-left corner. Trafford deals with it very well. That’s the first serious save the City keeper has had to make.
26 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. Miley overcooks a header back to his keeper and the ball sails out for a Fulham corner. He makes up for his error by clearing the set piece. St James’ Park has descended into pensive near-silence, though NIck Woltemade receives an aural pat on the back from his supporters as he warms up along the touchline. He’s forgiven, even if he’ll never be allowed to totally forget.
24 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. Murphy whips a glorious cross along the corridor of uncertainty from the Newcastle right. Had any of his team-mates taken a gamble, they’d now be celebrating after prodding home from a couple of yards. But no.
Some officiating admin from both games. Savinho wants a penalty for Manchester City, bursting into the box down the right, but Ajer’s challenge was fine. Meanwhile up north, Schar is booked for hauling Jimenez back by the collar.
Manchester City 1-0 Brentford. The game has restarted at the Etihad. We’re going dualbox on NFL RedZone headlong into fiasco territory.
19 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. There are more goals in this game all right. The ball bagatelles around the Toon box. The in-form Wilson brings it under control by cushioning it into the path of Kevin, who aims for the bottom right. Not enough pace on the shot, and Ramsdale claims. But still. Somewhere in the multiverse, it’s now 2-2.
18 min: NEW 1-1 FUL. Newcastle’s goal came from Schar’s wonderful crossfield pass; Andersen did something very similar to set Robinson away for Fulham’s equaliser. Anything you can do, etc. And here comes another fine diagonal ball! Willock dinks it across from the right, but Wissa mistimes his leap on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box and can’t get a header flying goalwards.
GOAL! Newcastle United 1-1 Fulham (Lukic 16)
… but St James’ Park falls quiet again, as Fulham strike back in short order! A bit of space for Robinson out on the left. He crosses delightfully for Lukic, who plants an unstoppable header into the left-hand side of the net, the wrong-footed Ramsdale with no chance of reacting!
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14 min: NEW 1-0 FUL. “It’s hardly been an inspiring start, touch of luck about the goal,” shrugs Toon fan Chris Paraskevas. “Fair to say there’s a fair bit of work to before we enter the territory of recovering from Sunday’s humiliation. Weird feeling around the stadium (I can confidently report from my backyard in Sydney).” It was subdued before the opener, yes, though to be fair, in the wake of the derby farce, Eddie Howe has also had plenty of vocal support from the home fans this evening.
12 min: NEW 1-0 FUL. Fulham had started so brightly as well. But Newcastle’s third and fourth touch in enemy territory has undone them. Wissa scores on his first start for his new club!
GOAL! Newcastle United 1-0 Fulham (Wissa 10)
Schar, quarterbacking on the halfway line, sends a long diagonal towards Murphy on the right touchline. Murphy fizzes a low cross into the six-yard box. Lecomte gets down to parry, but only tees up Wissa, six yards out. Wissa immediately meets the rebound and pings the ball into the bottom right from close range. Poor keeping but lovely move and clinical finish!
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9 min: NEW 0-0 FUL. Fulham have made 20 successful passes in the opposition’s final third, as opposed to Newcastle’s two. However, stats are worth very little, and …
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8 min: NEW 0-0 FUL. Jimenez makes a nuisance of himself in the Newcastle box, but skittles over a defender. Free kick. But Fulham come again, Jimenez nearly finding Smith Rowe free in the box with a cleverly directed header down the inside-right channel. Thiaw comes across to cover and clear.
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6 min: NEW 0-0 FUL. Lukic sends Kevin into space down the left. The exotically monickered Brazilian flies down the left and wins a corner, but Wilson’s delivery is not all that.
4 min: NEW 0-0 FUL. Fulham have started confidently enough. No real early drama to report, though.
HALF TIME: Manchester City 1-0 Brentford
City lead thanks to Cherki’s glorious curler. Abdukodir Khusanov is lucky to still be on the pitch, though, having denied Kevin Schade a goalscoring opportunity.
2 min: NEW 0-0 FUL. An early corner at St James’ Park for Fulham. The holders deal with it easily enough. Fulham are wearing a neon-green away kit. Stabilo Boss should sue.
Meanwhile up at St James’ Park … Newcastle United v Fulham kicks off. Part two of our SuperClocko™ patented Three-Half MBM Fiasco-in-the-making© is go!
45 min: There will be three additional first-half minutes.
44 min: It’s pretty quiet at the Etihad. O’Reilly, perhaps lulled into a false sense of security, plays a dreadfully lazy backpass down the Brentford left, nearly letting Schade free on goal. This time Khusanov is the hero, sliding in to flick the ball back to Trafford just in time.
42 min: Yarmoliuk tries to release Damsgaard into the City box down the right. Khusanov gets ahead of the striker, but doesn’t deal with the situation, and Brentford are gifted a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece, City’s young defender getting away with more uncertainty. This hasn’t been a banner performance from Khusanov, who probably should already be in the bath.
40 min: The rain continues to sheet down. “The rain in Manchester won’t bother those away fans who’ve spent their lives at a bus stop in Hounslow,” argues Justin Kavanagh. “Nor their Dublin-born manager.”
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38 min: Brentford started brightly, but they’re boxed in now. Cherki floats a wedge down the inside-right channel to find Foden in the box. Foden telescopes a leg to take the ball under control, but seems undecided over what do next. Flick over the keeper’s head? Or swivel and shoot? In the end he does neither, though his brief display of skilled juggling registers seven-and-a-half out of ten on our Jim-Baxter-o-meter™. Entertaining nonetheless, in other words.
36 min: Cherki really hit that, though. The pace of the shot made for a doubly delicious aesthetic treat, as the ball hit the top-right corner of the back of the net, dropping down onto the pole at the bottom before whistling back out of the goal and past the prone keeper at high speed. Such a sweet goal.
34 min: Cherki steals his team-mate Erling Haaland’s meditation celebration. On the City bench, the man himself cracks a smile of medium-to-high amusement.
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GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Brentford (Cherki 32)
The corner, in from the right, is half cleared. The ball drops to Cherki on the left-hand edge of the D. Cherki takes a touch back infield, and whips a power-curler into the top right. No chance for the keeper! A sumptuous finish.
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31 min: Savinho bursts past Kayode down the left and reaches the byline. His cross isn’t all that, but takes a deflection and loops erratically enough to force Henry to head behind. And from the corner …
29 min: Henry scampers down the inside-left channel and into the City box. He’s about to deliver a cross when Lewis slides in to dispossess with a perfectly-timed tackle. It had to be just so, or the referee was pointing to the spot. Magnificent defending.
28 min: Mukasa shifts the ball in from the right and has a blast. Straight into the nearest red-and-white shirt. City are certainly looking the more threatening, though most of their efforts are long-distance affairs. Brentford holding them at arm’s length in that sense.
26 min: Cherki looks in the mood, and now he dances in from the left, elegantly winning a corner. The set piece is worked back to Reijnders, who screeches a volley over the bar from the edge of the D. It’s beginning to feel like a City goal may not be too far off.
24 min: Brentford gift Cherki far too much time and space in the middle of the park, 30 yards from goal. Cherki creams a rising shot towards the top right. Valdimarsson parries, but not in particularly convincing style. He does just enough to stop the shot, and the ball squirts away from danger.
23 min: Schade is caught offside yet again, this time down the right. Keep making those runs, though, and something may just come off for him.
22 min: Savinho cuts in from the left and exchanges cute little passes with Foden and Cherki. Eventually he finds himself in a pocket of space just ahead of the D but slices wildly right of goal.
21 min: Foden is immediately in the thick of the action, patrolling Bobb’s beat down the right. His dinked cross is intercepted by Ajer and cleared.
20 min: Jensen takes the free kick, whipping fiercely towards the top-right corner. It’s not quite high enough to cause Trafford bother, and the keeper confidently punches clear.
19 min: Before the game restarts, Bobb goes down, having felt something. He trudges off sadly, the poor young man having no luck with injury whatsoever. Foden comes on in his place.
18 min: City and Khusanov have got away with a huge one there. Had that been a further 20 yards from goal, you could have made a case for Ake getting back and dealing with the situation. But Schade was about to enter the box and shoot. Ake didn’t have time to recover. Brentford are fuming. There’ll be VAR in the semis onwards, but that doesn’t help them now.
16 min: Schade dinks the ball past Khusanov down the inside-right channel. He’s about to enter the box when Khusanov shoulder barges him to the floor from behind. A free kick and a booking, but Brentford are claiming it should be a red card, due to the denial of a goalscoring opportunity. They’ve got a point. Ake was close by, but he would have been behind Schade. No VAR, so Brentford’s anger is for nought.
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15 min: Bobb dribbles in from the right, having got the run on Henry. He’s got space and time, and options in the middle. He opts to drop a shoulder, nudge further infield, and zip a shot towards the bottom right. He scuffs it a bit, and that’s an easy claim for the keeper. City suddenly baring their fangs.
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13 min: Reijnders releases Savinho into space on the left. Savinho’s low cross is no good, but the ball ends up with Cherki, to the right of the D. Cherki drags a low drive wide right. Well hit, but Valdimarsson had it covered.
12 min: Henry volleys a first-time pass down the left, in the hope of releasing Schade into the box. Again Schade’s timing is off; had he been smarter, he’d have been in on goal. Brentford will be pleased with their start.
10 min: Yarmoliuk pings a clever pass down the inside-right channel to release Schade, but the flag correctly pops up for offside. There wasn’t much air between attacker and defender, and a better-timed burst from Schade would have had the hosts in all sorts. This game is slowly beginning to open up.
9 min: Savinho wrestles his way past Kayode and prepares to tear off into space down the left. But the whistle goes rather easily. There wasn’t much in that, and City are denied a dangerous attack.
8 min: Khusanov jumps in late from behind into Henry, who is in mid-air and crashes to the floor. A slightly saucy deed. Just a free kick, though you’ve seen yellows given for less. Nothing comes of the set piece.
6 min: Cherki executes his first, but almost certainly not his last, cheeky backheel of the evening. But it doesn’t release Lewis down the right. Soon the ball’s back at the feet of Trafford, who launches long. Bobb threatens to get in behind Henry, but the Brentford defender turns on the jets to win the footrace and head back to his keeper Valdimarsson.
4 min: BREAKING NEWS: It’s raining in Manchester. Meanwhile only a gentle rumble in the stands, with nothing much happening yet.
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2 min: Brentford win an early throw deep in City territory on the left. Kayode does what he does, flinging long into the box. City clear, but Brentford come again and win another throw on the left. This time Kayode does what he usually doesn’t, restarting short and setting up Janelt to cross. City deal with that as well. Brentford mixing it up early doors.
Manchester City v Brentford is go. The visitors get the ball rolling.
The teams are out at the Etihad. Manchester City wear their famous sky blue, while Brentford are in their first-choice kit of red and white stripes. Half One of SuperClocko™’s patented Three-Half MBM System© gets underway in a couple of minutes!
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The holders Newcastle make six changes to the side that began the 1-0 defeat at Sunderland. Fabian Schär, Jacob Murphy, Harvey Barnes, Joe Willock, Jacob Ramsey and Yoane Wissa are in; Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon, Anthony Elanga and Nick Woltemade drop to the bench, while Dan Burn and Lewis Hall are injured. Wissa is making his first start for his new club.
Fulham make four changes to the XI that started the 3-2 win at Burnley, and three of them are enforced. Alex Iwobi, Samuel Chukwueze and Calvin Bassey are all away at the Afcon with Nigeria, so in come Jorge Cuenca, Saša Lukić and Kevin. Meanwhile Benjamin Lecomte replaces Bernd Leno in goal.
Newcastle v Fulham teams
Newcastle United: Ramsdale, Jacob Murphy, Thiaw, Schar, Livramento, Miley, Guimaraes, Ramsey, Barnes, Wissa, Willock.
Subs: Ruddy, Joelinton, Tonali, Gordon, Elanga, Woltemade, Alex Murphy, Neave, Shahar.
Fulham: Lecomte, Tete, Andersen, Cuenca, Robinson, Berge, Lukic, Wilson, Smith Rowe, Kevin, Jimenez.
Subs: Leno, Castagne, Diop, Reed, Cairney, King, Ridgeon, Traore, Kusi-Asare.
Referee: Darren England (South Yorkshire).
Updated
Manchester City name the same League Cup team they selected at Swansea City in the previous round, with the exceptions of the injured Jeremy Doku and the Afcon-bound pair of Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush. Still plenty of attacking power in the shape of Rayan Cherki and Savinho, but just in case things go belly up, Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden are on the bench.
Brentford also mix it up, with only five players from XI that started the 1-1 Premier League draw with Leeds on Sunday starting again tonight. Michael Kayode, Mathias Jensen, Vitaly Janelt, Sepp van den Berg, and captain Nathan Collins keep their places. Jordan Henderson and Igor Thiago are missing altogether, as is Dango Ouattara who is off to Afcon.
Updated
Man City v Brentford teams
Manchester City: Trafford, Lewis, Khusanov, Ake, O’Reilly, Gonzalez, Reijnders, Savio, Cherki, Bobb, Mukasa.
Subs: Donnarumma, Dias, Haaland, Silva, Gvardiol, Matheus Luiz, Foden, Mfuni, Gray.
Brentford: Valdimarsson, Kayode, Ajer, Collins, van den Berg, Henry, Yarmolyuk, Janelt, Jensen, Damsgaard, Schade.
Subs: Kelleher, Hickey, Pinnock, Lewis-Potter, Peart-Harris, Konak, Nunes Gomes, Arthur, Donovan.
Referee: Sam Barrott (West Yorkshire).
Updated
Preamble
Chelsea are already in the semi-finals; Arsenal and Crystal Palace aren’t in a position to sort themselves out until next week. Meanwhile tonight we’ll discover the identity of the two other semi-finalists in a staggered style …
Manchester City v Brentford (7.30pm)
Newcastle United v Fulham (8.15pm)
… so with this in mind, we’re going quadbox on NFL RedZone segueing into SuperClocko™ mode, incorporating the very first runout for our patented Three-Half MBM System©. Team news when we have it, and advance apologies for the fiasco that will undoubtedly unfold should the game at the Etihad go to penalties while four goals in as many minutes are scored at St James’ Park. Oh, and don’t forget the draw for the semis, which will take place after the end of the third half. It’s on!
