Football writer Tom Hancock reflects on Wednesday night’s EFL Cup quarter-finals.
Manchester City 2-0 Brentford
Manchester City made it six straight wins in all competitions by comfortably dispatching Brentford to reach the EFL Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2020/21 – when they went on to lift the trophy.
Pep Guardiola’s side opened the scoring in style shortly after the half-hour mark at the Etihad Stadium, Rayan Cherki bringing a loose ball down brilliantly before unleashing a thumping strike into the top-right corner from 20 yards.
In doing so, Man City’s summer signing from Lyon recorded his 11th goal involvement (four goals and seven assists) in 17 appearances across all competitions this season.
This was another lively outing for the Frenchman, who, in his 66 minutes on the pitch, had five touches in the Brentford penalty area – three of which were shots.
Not for the first time in recent months, Guardiola was singing Cherki’s praises. “He’s exceptional,” the City manager enthused. “It was a fantastic, fantastic goal. I saw many times with Phil [Foden] this type of goal, Kevin [De Bruyne] before.”
On a less positive note for the hosts, Oscar Bobb was forced off injured after less than 20 minutes. Having started nine of his team’s last 10 games, Foden was thrust into the action, and played just over an hour, before he was replaced.
With Jeremy Doku already sidelined for the next few matches, players such as Foden and Cherki may have to play a bigger part than Guardiola might prefer over the busy festive period.
The City boss made full use of his considerable strength in depth to ensure City got the job done, introducing Josko Gvardiol, Matheus Nunes and Bernardo Silva midway through the second half. Erling Haaland and Ruben Dias were unused substitutes.
But it was one of City’s starters who gave them an ultimately unassailable lead.
Darting into the Brentford penalty area on the break, Savinho’s shot deflected off the sliding Kristoffer Ajer and looped over a helpless Hakon Valdimarsson into the net for his second goal of the campaign – both of which have come in this competition.
“He’s young, can play left and right side,” added Guardiola. “And he’s a player that is so aggressive and with time he will improve his final decision – he will become a top, top-class player.”
From there on in, City were in complete control, seeing the tie out almost unthreatened, also handing a first-team debut to 19-year-old midfielder Charlie Gray.
City will look to continue their longest winning streak since 2023/24, which has seen them rack up 18 goals, when they entertain struggling West Ham United in the Premier League at 15:00 GMT on Saturday.
With Arsenal not in action until 20:00 GMT on Saturday, when they visit Everton, Guardiola’s men, currently two points behind the leaders, have the opportunity to put pressure on the Gunners by taking over at the top.
Meanwhile, Brentford, for whom this was a fifth successive away defeat in all competitions, travel to bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Bees boss Keith Andrews wasn’t too despondent at their EFL Cup exit, and revealed why leading goalscorer Igor Thiago was absent from the squad.
“We played with a lot of courage,” said Andrews. “I had to make some changes, with Dango [Ouattara] going away [to the Africa Cup of Nations] and a couple of knocks to [Igor] Thiago and Jordan [Henderson].”
Semi-final draw: Newcastle v Man City
See: Man City line-up and report | Brentford line-up and report
Newcastle United 2-1 Fulham
Lewis Miley’s stoppage-time header downed Fulham as EFL Cup holders Newcastle took another step closer to retaining the trophy, and quickly shook off the disappointment of Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to local rivals Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby.
Yoane Wissa got Newcastle off to a great start at St James’ Park, opening the scoring on 10 minutes after Benjamin Lecomte could only parry Jacob Murphy’s ball into the box.
Having picked up an injury just days after his summer move from Brentford, Wissa marked his first start for the club with his first goal – and head coach Eddie Howe will be hoping it’s the first of many in the coming weeks, with the Magpies’ No 9 not selected by DR Congo for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The hosts’ lead was short-lived, however, an unmarked Sasa Lukic heading in Antonee Robinson’s cross to level for Fulham six minutes later, meaning Newcastle’s wait for a clean sheet extends to nine matches in all competitions.
Newcastle may find it difficult to keep the goals out given their injury woes at the back – which worsened before kick-off with the news of a reported injury to Lewis Hall, forcing Miley to line up out of position at right-back.
But Howe would finish the night without even his one fit senior full-back, Tino Livramento, as the England international hobbled off after 76 minutes to be replaced by youngster Alex Murphy.
Defenders Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier, Emil Krafth and Sven Botman are already on the sidelines – a far from ideal situation for Newcastle, with three Premier League fixtures still to come between now and the end of the year, beginning with the Saturday lunchtime visit of Chelsea.
The tie looked set to be heading for penalties, with neither side mustering a shot between the 66th minute and the 90th minute, but Miley provided the game’s decisive moment, heading in from Sandro Tonali’s corner two minutes into stoppage-time.
It was the Newcastle academy graduate’s third goal of the season, all of which have come over his last six appearances.
For Fulham, there will have been a profound sense of deja vu: Marco Silva’s men lost by the same scoreline at St James’ Park in the league in October, on that occasion to a 90th-minute Bruno Guimaraes goal.
Speaking at full-time, Howe credited his side for coming out on top in a “tough game” after their derby loss. “Back on home soil, we controlled the game,” said Howe. “We deserved to win.”
Howe went on to laud Miley for the 19-year-old’s performance playing out of position. “He hasn’t played right-back a lot and had to take on a lot of information this morning, so he did really well,” he continued. “He’s here on merit; he believes that he’s more than good enough to play at this level. Not just play, but excel. He’s taking his game to another level.”
While Newcastle march on to the semi-finals, making the last four of the competition for the second season in a row for the first time, Fulham must pick themselves up as they welcome Nottingham Forest to Craven Cottage in the Premier League on Monday night.
Reflecting on his team’s EFL Cup exit, Fulham head coach Silva said: “It is a very tough place to come. The players were brave until the last minute of the game. Now, we need to rest – the game on Monday is very important for us.”
See: Newcastle line-up and report | Fulham line-up and report
EFL Cup quarter-finals
Cardiff 1-3 Chelsea
Man City 2-0 Brentford
Newcastle 2-1 Fulham
Arsenal v Crystal Palace
EFL Cup semi-final draw
Chelsea v Arsenal or Crystal Palace
Newcastle v Man City
First legs to be played the w/c 12 January, with the second legs to be played the w/c 2 February.
Chelsea will have to wait until next Tuesday to find out their EFL semi-final opponents, but the Blues will face a London derby against either Arsenal or Crystal Palace – who play their quarter-final at Emirates Stadium next Tuesday.
As for holders Newcastle, they face Man City, who they beat 2-1 in the Premier League last month.
