A narrow defeat on Saturday night for Newcastle United, who struggled to lay a glove on Man City as our trip to the Etihad ended 1-0 to the champions.
After a stunning start to the new season last weekend, we struggled to impose ourselves on the Guardiola’s side. Following a timid first half featuring a brilliant strike from Julian Alvarez, the lads couldn’t quite create a clear cut chance in an improved but ultimately frustrating second 45.
We were competitive, defended well and had patches of decent play, just never REALLY looked like scoring against a City side who edged us out in all departments. A frustrating night and drop-off from last weekend, but it shows how far we’ve come when a 1-0 defeat at the Etihad may have been applauded by previous regimes.
The result leaves us 6th in the table, behind the likes of Liverpool, Spurs, Brentford and Brighton after all four enjoyed big wins earlier in the day.
As expected, Eddie Howe named the same side that beat Aston Villa 5-1 last weekend, meaning the likes of Wilson, Barnes, Longstaff and Anderson remained on the bench:
STARTING XI: Pope – Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn – Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton – Almiron, Isak, Gordon
SUBS: Dubravka, Lascelles, Wilson, Ritchie, Targett, Barnes, Livramento, Anderson, Longstaff
Man City didn’t create any chance of note in the opening 15 minutes, but we were surrendering possession too easily and struggling to get a foothold in the game; as so many sides do when they come to the Etihad.
After a scrappy start, we grew into the game and began having more of the ball leading up to the 20-minute mark, with our midfield finally getting a foot on the ball and feeding our front three. This didn’t last long, however, as there were too many moments were we won back possession well or picked the ball up thanks to a slack City pass, only to give it away immediately, with the likes of Almiron, Trippier and Gordon guilty of a few cheap giveaways in the first half an hour.
We had been defending well, but were undone by a stunning finish from Julian Alvarez, who fired into the top corner after a slick pass from Phil Foden found the unmarked Argentinian. He still had lots to do, yet his strike was inch-perfect and smashed into the top corner beyond Nick Pope. A great finish but he was given too much space and punished us emphatically.
Alexander Isak looked far too isolated up top and we were being beaten at our own game, at times, with Man City swarming all over our black and white shirts and giving us no time to settle on the ball. Ultimately, they showed their class on and off the ball and headed into the break 1-0 up. We work to do if we wanted to leave Manchester with a result.
We had to impose ourselves on City in the second half, with our all-action approach and high press barely evident in a first half Guardiola’s side controlled. Alvarez went into the book just 20 seconds into the restart and we were seeing more of the ball in the opening stages of the second 45, with Gordon having one effort blocked and another sliced over after some much improved approach play.
It was good to see us being much braver on the ball and pushing City back, although there was an injury concern 10 minutes into the restart as Joelinton hobbled off shortly after a cynical trip on Foden. A double change followed, as the Brazilian – along with the already booked Gordon – were replaced by Harvey Barnes and Sean Longstaff.
It didn’t take Barnes long to go into the book for a tug back on Walker, then Schar came to our rescue moments later for a brilliant last ditch tackle to stop Haaland making it 2-0. At the other end, it wasn’t Miguel Almiron’s night, with the Paraguayan following a few cheap first-half giveaways with a wasteful pass to Trippier just as we got ourselves into a good position.
Soon after, another Foden burst left out midfield for dead before feeding Haaland. The big striker sent Botman the wrong way but dragged his effort beyond the far post, then had another effort seconds later; this time blocked by Pope’s outstretched leg.
An opening came our way on the break, as Almiron fed Bruno who broke to the edge of the box in space, but his effort was scuffed and dribbled well wide. Another double change followed from Howe, as Callum Wilson and Elliot Anderson came on for Alexander Isak and Sandro Tonali, with the former struggling to get into the game and the latter on a booking.
We had a chance on the counter with 20 minutes remaining as Wilson broke on the counter, but our No 9 didn’t make the most of it, with the attack fizzling out with a long range strike from Barnes straight at Ederson. It was our biggest opening from open play but we didn’t make the most of it.
Anderson injected some life into our midfield and we were coming on strong as we edged towards the final 10 minutes. Promising signs against a City side beginning to fade, yet we were living dangerously as the home side threatened to release Haaland on the counter each time they turned the ball over. Saying that, I thought Schar and Botman dealt with the big man brilliantly.
Tino Livramento then came on for his Newcastle debut on 86 minutes, replacing the energetic Almiron who failed to make any major impact down the right, with his final ball often letting him down.
Five minutes were added on and it seemed we’d ran out of steam, with the champions holding on to secure a 1-0 win. Not the classic many were hoping for and a slightly frustrating night, but we weren’t far off where we needed to be and will learn a lot in defeat here, with City’s control and quality winning the day in the end.
