Premier League: Newcastle 2-1 Man City
Newcastle’s recent slide left them 15th in the Premier League at kick-off but, by the end of an always absorbing, sometimes almost anarchic, eveningthey had ascended to Cloud Nine.
It is very hard to argue that Eddie Howe is not an elite coach but, until this watershed win, his record against Pep Guardiola was pretty dismal.
In 18 Premier League matches against Manchester City, with Bournemouth and Newcastle, Howe had lost 16 and drawn two.
Newcastle United 2-1 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happenedRead more
Given his chameleon side – often excellent in Europe, frequently underwhelming in the league this term – kicked off just above the relegation zone, Newcastle’s manager must have been suitably relieved that Erling Haaland spurned a wonderful early chance during an opening 45 minutes punctuated by a series of missed opportunities by both sides.
With Haaland clean through, St James’ Park waited for the Norwegian to round Nick Pope but, for once, his robotic reliability in front of goal vanished and he made an absolute hash of an attempt to lift the ball over the goalkeeper.
Shortly afterwards the growing nervousness among home fans nearly turned to celebration as Nick Woltemade rose to meet a looping delivery from the impressive Tino Livramento but his header was kept out by a stunning save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Guardiola thought his team should have had a penalty after a challenge from Fabian Schär – recalled to the starting XI in place of Sven Botman – on Phil Foden but a video assistant referee (VAR) review disagreed and the impasse endured.
By half time VAR had decreed that Malick Thiaw had not handled a Jérémy Doku shot and Donnarumma had again done well to dive low to divert a Woltemade strike. Even so, it might have been different had the £70m striker calibrated that shot a little better.
Generally, though, Newcastle were playing much better than in recent weeks. Howe is proud of his capacity for reinvention and here Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães swapped midfield roles, with the latter dropping into the No 6 position and Tonali adopting the No 8 brief.
If this mini reshuffle seemed to suit the outstanding Guimarães better than an unusually subdued Tonali, the wider home gameplay frequently frustrated the visitors with the return of Livramento and Lewis Hall in the full-back positions particularly welcome.
Yet City still had their moments, often initiated by Foden. Not that his finishing was too hot following a sharp exchange of passes with Rayan Cherki that concluded with Cherki cueing Foden up for what should have been a sitter. Significantly that move began with a superlative, defence bisecting ball from the influential Rúben Dias.
City started the second half brightly and it took a brilliantly timed tackle from Thiaw to halt Haaland in his tracks just as the visiting No 9 looked nailed on to make the most of Doku’s high-calibre pass by shooting beyond Pope.
Instead it was Newcastle who scored. Harvey Barnes would almost certainly not have started had Anthony Gordon not failed a late fitness test but here he played a cute one-two with Guimarães before atoning for a first-half miss by unleashing a first-time shot of such power and precision that even Donnarumma proved unequal to it.
Shortly after taking the lead, Newcastle failed to clear a corner and were punished. First Doku, then Foden played the ball back into the box and eventually it fell to Dias whose shot flew through Schär’s legs and past an unsighted Pope.
Almost immediately Guimarães’s header rebounded off the bar and Barnes reacted first to volley the rebound home. Another VAR intervention, exploring a possible offside against Guimarães this time, ensued but the goal stood and Newcastle, by now arranged in a back five, appeared thoroughly renascent.