Do away goals count in Man City vs Newcastle decider? Extra-time rules explained for Carabao Cup semi-final

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·4 febbraio 2026

Do away goals count in Man City vs Newcastle decider? Extra-time rules explained for Carabao Cup semi-final

Holders trail by two goals heading into Carabao Cup decider at the Etihad Stadium

Newcastle must prove Eddie Howe right if they are to complete the comeback and seal a Carabao Cup final place.

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The holders of the competition take on Manchester City in the semi-final second leg on Wednesday night, but are trailing 2-0 from the first-leg three weeks ago.

Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki struck in the second half at St James’ Park to leave Newcastle with a huge mountain to climb at the Etihad Stadium.

Requiring a minimum of two goals to have any hope of reaching a third Carabao Cup final in four years, Howe insists his side are capable of performing in any stadium in the world.

Speaking in the pre-match press conference, Howe said: “Collectively, the spirit within the group is there. It's going to be an almighty challenge and there's no bigger challenge than Manchester City away but we believe in ourselves and will give it a good go.

"The second goal in the first game was a big disappointment for us coming so late but we still believe.

“We believe we have the players that can go to any stadium in the world and perform and score goals."

Man City did let a two-goal lead slip to draw with Tottenham at the weekend, but know that they can afford to lose by one goal and still set up a showdown against Arsenal in next month’s final.

Here, Standard Sport takes a look at how the rules work for the Carabao Cup semi-final.

Do away goals count?

No. Away goals will not count in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup.

The English Football League (EFL) scrapped the away goals rule in the 2018-19 season, which previously only came into effect after extra-time in the semi-finals.

Is there extra-time in the Carabao Cup semi-final?

Yes. Extra-time will be used on Wednesday night should aggregate scores be level after 90 minutes.

From there, 30 more minutes will be played after which the outcome may be decided by a penalty shootout if Man City and Newcastle still can’t be separated.

This marks a significant change from previous rounds where ties goes straight to penalties if the score is level after 90 minutes.

The only scenario that will force extra-time and possibly penalties is if Newcastle are win the game inside the 90 minutes by a two-goal margin.