Howe rues Newcastle wastefulness
Eddie Howe was left to rue Newcastle United's wastefulness in front of goal after his side's defence of the Carabao Cup ended with a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Manchester City in the semi-finals.
Omar Marmoush netted twice and was joined on the scoresheet by Tijjani Reijnders as City built on its 2-0 first-leg lead within the first 32 minutes of the second game at the Etihad Stadium.
Anthony Elanga came off the bench to get a consolation goal for Newcastle in the second half, with Yoane Wissa also missing a pair of big chances.
Howe believes the aggregate scoreline did not accurately reflect the balance of play.
"It was exactly the start we didn't want. With the first goal, Dan [Burn] has gone to clear the ball and it's gone off their attacker and gone in," Howe said.
"That sums up the start to the game that we had. It was the opposite of what we wanted, and it took the game away from us.
"In both games, if you look back, we are frustrated that we only scored one goal in two games. We don't feel we should have lost the first leg 2-0 on the balance of opportunities created.
"It could have been different, but we accept the reality. The last thing you want to do is have to chase a game. We were going for the match; we were trying to attack."
Newcastle has lost each of its last 12 away games against City in all competitions, the longest losing run away to a single opponent in its history.
The Magpies had progressed from all three of their previous Carabao Cup semi-final ties, but they became only the third holders to exit at this stage of the competition, after Tottenham in 1971-1972 and Blackburn Rovers in 2002-2003.
Howe withdrew Nick Woltemade, Lewis Hall and Joe Willock at half-time, with the tie already beyond his team, while they also saw Anthony Gordon limp off injured shortly before the interval.
Howe could offer an initial positive assessment when asked about Gordon's condition, saying: "It looks like a hamstring injury, I don't think it looks too bad."
