Newcastle United – Manchester City: Citizens Close in on the Carabao Cup Final (0-2)

The Carabao Cup holders had to repeat a recent feat at St. James’ Park to try and boost their chances of holding onto a historic title. But the performance they produced was not quite good enough to achieve that target as another mark of progress was laid down by a club in rebuild.

Tactical analysis and match report by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere.

Newcastle United are still striving for consistency this campaign. Their three-game winning streak in the Premier League is the longest spell of the season, and sustained phases of positive performances have been undone with growing ropiness at the back. Creativity can also be absent in their displays away from St. James’ Park, but the stadium was the site of Eddie Howe’s first victory over their latest opponent’s manager in 17 attempts back in November. Could the cauldron work its magic once more?

Manchester City continue to look like a team in transition under Pep Guardiola. With a flawless record in December, the camp closed in on the position of league leaders Arsenal as they assembled a suitable supporting cast for their . . .