Cherki inspires City, Magpies strike late to reach League Cup semis

Rayan Cherki's stunning strike put Manchester City on their way to the League Cup semifinals with a 2-0 win over Brentford, while holders Newcastle beat Fulham 2-1 on Wednesday.

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City face the Magpies in the last four, while Chelsea will take on Arsenal or Crystal Palace.

Ahead of the hectic festive Premier League schedule, Pep Guardiola could afford to give Erling Haaland the night off as his side secured a sixth consecutive victory in all competitions.

Haaland was left on the bench among seven changes by Guardiola at the Etihad.

"We have had a run of a lot of games for Erling for example and Ruben (Dias) and the other ones and they have to be ready," Guardiola said.

"We have to do it (give them a rest) and we talked a lot about these days about everyone being connected today."

Abdukodir Khusanov was one of those handed a rare start and the Uzbek defender was lucky just to see a yellow card for chopping down Kevin Schade when the German looked set to run through on goal.

Guardiola was forced to field the inform Phil Foden for longer than he hoped as the England international replaced the injured Oscar Bobb after just 20 minutes.

But it was Cherki who unlocked the Brentford rearguard action in style 10 minutes before halftime.