Guardiola Delighted by Semenyo’s ‘Scrappy’ Goal for Man City

Pep Guardiola commended Antoine Semenyo for scoring a ‘scrappy’ winner in Manchester City’s 1-0 victory at Newcastle.

City secured a crucial first-leg win in their Carabao Cup semi-final at St James’ Park.

Semenyo, who had a goal and assist on his debut, found the net again just after the hour mark, converting from close range following Tijjani Reijnders’ set-piece. This goal brought his total to 12 for City and his former club Bournemouth this season.

Two in two for @antoinesemenyo 😮‍💨✨ pic.twitter.com/5epxTTPwrP

— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 13, 2026

Guardiola expressed his satisfaction with Semenyo, noting that he encourages wide players to find good scoring positions.

“He improved a lot at Bournemouth with these types of scrappy goals, arriving from the opposite side to the box,” Guardiola said. He highlighted the importance of pushing players like Jeremy Doku and others to be in scoring positions.

“To score goals, you need to get people in front of the goal. It’s straightforward. We made one goal, and another was not counted…”