Antoine Semenho scored again for Manchester City as his new club took control of their Carabao Cup semi-final against holders Newcastle – but was controversially denied another goal by VAR.
Semenj’s opener, expertly struck by Bernardo Silva, was quickly followed by a tricky corner, only for referee Chris Kavanagh to be sent to the pitch monitor to review a “subjective offside” call on Erling Haaland.
There is no doubt that the City striker was slightly ahead of the last defender, but as well as offside, the dispute was over his interference in play as he tackled Malik Thio close to the byline. VAR deemed Haaland to be interfering, and in the end Kavanagh agreed.
The whole episode lasted the most beautiful six minutes. “We can all agree that VAR is bad for everyone. It doesn’t improve our game,” Jamie Redknapp said. “It’s just a matter of opinion. Those six minutes bored us silly.”
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Antoine Semenho opened the scoring
ski sports Chris Sutton was critical of the decision at St James’ Park: “I think it’s unbelievable. Thiau never reacted to it. It’s just the referee’s guess. Newcastle got away with one.”
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Semeno thought he had scored his second goal but was ruled out by Chris Kavanagh for “subjective offside” after Erling Haaland was adjudged to have interfered with play
VAR ruled out a second goal for Man City
Just before that, Ioane Visa’s effort was parried by goalkeeper James Trafford to add to a glaring first-half miss, while Bruno Guimaraes thundered against the wall. All four big chances of the hosts were missed.
City are effectively the only side to have kept Newcastle from scoring at home all season and added a second late on when two substitutes, Ryan Ait-Nouri and Ryan Cherky, combined, the latter slotting past Nick Pope.
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Ryan Cherky doubled Man City’s lead in stoppage time
The second leg is next month and Pep Guardiola’s side are favored – Newcastle have not won at the Etihad since 2014, when Alan Pardew was manager.
“VAR has not been introduced to replay matches”
ski sports Micah Richards on Semenja’s disallowed goal:
“I understand the process, but VAR wasn’t brought in for this. This was against a goal, which they said they weren’t going to do.
“If you look at Tio and Haaland, they both stick with each other. They both go for it.
“Even though the decision is technically correct, I don’t think goals should be ruled out for this.”
Semeno praises Man City’s “perfect” environment
Manchester City striker Antoine Semenio:
“It’s the perfect environment here. Everyone has confidence and wants to do their best. I went into it and they helped me with my confidence and made me feel welcome.”
“It’s been a lot, but I’ve enjoyed it so far. I’m picking things up very quickly and I’m enjoying it.”
“I’m just getting the confidence I had from Bournemouth here and playing with a smile on my face. I’m enjoying every moment.”