SATV, Kathmandu, Feb. 6: Manchester City will face Arsenal in the League Cup final after ending Newcastle's reign as holders with a first-half blitz in their 3-1 victory on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola's side were already in pole position after winning the semi-final first leg on Tyneside in January and they finished the job in ruthless fashion at the Etihad Stadium.
Omar Marmoush struck twice in the first half of the second leg before Tijjani Reijnders put the result beyond doubt.
Anthony Elanga reduced the deficit after the interval, but City's 5-1 aggregate win sent them back to the League Cup showpiece for the first time since 2021.
City's final date with Arsenal is set for March 22 at Wembley after the Premier League leaders knocked out Chelsea on Tuesday.
Reaching the final was a welcome tonic for Guardiola following the frustration of blowing a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at Tottenham on Sunday that delivered a major blow to their title challenge.
With a crucial trip to Liverpool looming this weekend, City trail Arsenal by six points in the Premier League title race.
The League Cup was the first silverware of Guardiola's City reign when they beat Arsenal in the 2018 final, with current Gunners boss Mikel Arteta then working as the Spaniard's assistant.
City went on to win the competition for the following three years, but haven't lifted the League Cup since 2021.
"We will travel to London again, they will wait for us there. They never travel to the north (for finals) but I am really happy to be back. Five (League Cup) finals in 10 years is a big milestone," Guardiola said.
Bilbao, Sociedad into Copa semis
Iñaki Williams scored six minutes into stoppage time as Athletic Bilbao won 2-1 at Valencia to reach the semifinals of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, and its Basque Country rival Real Sociedad made it to the last-four by winning 3-2 at Alaves.
Athletic will be playing in its sixth Copa semifinal in seven seasons. It won the title in 2024 and was runner-up to Barcelona in 2020-21 and to Sociedad in 2019-20.
Sociedad is unbeaten since losing 2-1 at home to Girona in the Spanish league in December.
Alaves, which lost the 2016-17 Copa final to Barcelona, hadn't made it to the quarterfinals since 2017-18. It was coming off two straight Spanish league wins.
German Cup
Defending champion Stuttgart defeated second-division club Holstein Kiel 3-0 Wednesday to reach the German Cup semifinals.
Deniz Undav broke the deadlock for the visitors in the 56th minute, then Chris Fuhrich added to the lead in the 89th and Atakan Karazor closed the scoring three minutes into stoppage time.
Stuttgart won its fourth German Cup title last season, beating third-division team Arminia Bielefeld in the final.
Holstein Kiel was playing in the quarterfinals for the first time since reaching the last four in 2020-21.
Italy Cup
Inter Milan reached the Italian Cup semifinals after beating Torino 2-1 on Wednesday with French players Ange-Yoan Bonny and Andy Diouf both scoring.
A close-range header from Bonny put Inter in the 35th minute and Diouf doubled the Nerazzurri's lead moments into the second half. Croatian striker Sandro Kulenovic pulled a goal back for Torino in the 57th.
Inter is bidding to win the Coppa Italia for the 10th time while Torino's wait goes on with its last Coppa title coming in 1993.
