Five Things Learned: Newcastle United 2-1 Manchester City (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City found themselves on the receiving end of a frustrating 2-1 defeat to Newcastle at St James’ Park as Pep Guardiola’s side missed an opportunity to close the gap on Arsenal.

The clash was certainly eventful, but a brace of goals from Harvey Barnes proved to be decisive in the North-East, cancelling out a Ruben Dias equaliser and handing the Blues their fourth league defeat this term.

The precedent was set before there even a minute on the clock after a poor pass from Gianluigi Donnarumma allowed Joelinton to steal the ball from Phil Foden and set Harvey Barnes through. Barnes could not apply a finish, however, and the visitors escaped a calamitous error.

Erling Haaland very nearly made his mark minutes after Donnarumma denied Barnes as Jeremy Doku set him through on goal up against the onrushing Nick Pope, but the Norwegian was rather surprisingly off the radar, dragging his shot wide with just three minutes gone.

After City’s frontman failed to break the deadlock, Newcastle’s striker had an opportunity of his own as a superb cross from Jacob Murphy found the head of Nick Woltemade, who could only direct a header straight at the giant frame of Donnarumma.

Five minutes later, City felt aggrieved after a challenge from Fabian Schar on Phil Foden sent the No.47 down, but VAR Craig Pawson cleared the incident. Another check occurred a few minutes later for a potential handball by Malick Thiaw, but the German was deemed in a natural position.

As the half progressed, both sides failed to seize opportunities as a result of both poor finishing and goalkeeping heroics, as the likes of Barnes, Haaland and Foden all missed chances to give their respective sides the lead.

In the second period chaos really ensued, and with 63 minutes played, a poor clearance from Nico O’Reilly resulted in a promising situation for the hosts, which Harvey Barnes was at the forefront of again whipping an exceptional strike past Donnarumma and giving the Magpies the goal they had desperately searched for.

City bit back quickly, though, as a Ruben Dias effort following a set piece sailed through multiple bodies, leaving Nick Pope stranded and giving Pep Guardiola’s side hope of a comeback. That hope quickly extinguished, as just two minutes later, a corner proved to be the lifeline for Guardiola and City, but also their undoing.

The home side’s No.11 made the most of defensive disarray, firing a finish past City’s Italian shot-stopper to restore the lead for those of a black and white persuasion. The goal was put under the microscope at Stockley Park, but after extensive analysis, the strike was awarded and secured Newcastle United three points.

Here are Five Things We Learned from Manchester City’s disappointing 2-1 loss against Newcastle United on Saturday evening.

The chances went begging

So far this campaign, Manchester City have done impressively well at converting chances, by and large courtesy of having a striker as talented as Erling Haaland – key in moments. However, that was unfortunately not the case either for him or the Blues this time out.

As a lot of the more experienced players who have been involved in title races in the years gone by will know, it is these results that make a difference. On the road at an atmospheric ground against tough opposition will always be a tall order, but what is crucial is even if chances are few and far between, it is essential you make the most of opportunities.

City were simply not clinical enough, and missing four big chances at a hostile St. James’ Park is far below the usual standards, and if they wish to contend for the title in May, this needs to change and quickly.

By no means is this scrutinising any particular player who missed chances, but more of the manner and volume of the chances wasted. The team as a collective were not ruthless enough and were punished for it.

Defensively poor

Again, this is not intended to single out a particular member of the back-four but to concede the number of chances those in sky blue did on Saturday evening was certainly concerning. It was far too easy for the Magpies to carve through City lines and generate opportunities.

If you intend to challenge for a title, control of games is integral, and despite having the majority of the ball, this felt far from the case for the Blues against Newcastle, as the Magpies managed an impressive 2.24 xG up against Guardiola’s side whilst missing five big chances.

The Blues were given plenty of warning signs through a multitude of missed chances by Nick Woltemade and Harvey Barnes but did not heed them, and in truth, if it were not for the acrobatics of Gianluigi Donnarumma in the sticks, it could have been a more lopsided affair.

Whilst the City defence has improved exponentially in comparison to the atrocities of last season, they are not the finished article, and if Guardiola’s men wish to contest for the elusive league podium, the Blues need to be more resolute defensively, particularly on the road.

Lack of impact from the bench

Pep Guardiola is possibly the best coach to ever grace the game and has managed countless games flawlessly, but that was not the case on Saturday. Granted, his side had just conceded what would be the winner at the time of the triple substitution, but was it really necessary?

City were asking more than enough questions with the frontline that started, and substituting some of City’s best and most creative outlets for players who have really struggled thus far in Oscar Bobb and Savinho seemed bizarre.

One particularly strange decision is the fact Omar Marmoush was only granted a cameo of three minutes plus stoppage time. The Blues had struggled to make the most of their chances, and yet a dynamic attacker in City’s No.7, who managed over 40 goal contributions in all competitions last season, was left waiting in the wings.

A vital asset to title challengers is when your back is up against it in a tough fixture, you can introduce stars from the bench to try and influence the game, and make an instant impact. This, however, was not evident against Newcastle.

Credit where credit is due

As much as you can critique the Etihad side for a lacklustre performance in the North-East, you cannot analyse without giving rightful praise to Eddie Howe’s side, as the Englishman secured his first-ever career win over Pep Guardiola and Newcastle’s second win in 36 league meetings with City.

Defensively, Newcastle were imperious, barring the door for the vast majority of the game and making it difficult for the Blues’ free-flowing football to yield any results. Tactically, Howe executed a plan to perfection whilst his side showed immense grit and determination.

The former four-in-a-row league winners were out-battled and outrun by the Geordies at St. James’ Park, who gave their visitors as tough an away trip as they had all season and earned an invaluable three points.

Regardless of whatever qualms you may have with the contentious refereeing decisions, when push comes to shove, sometimes you get them and sometimes you don’t, and when it comes down to it, Eddie Howe’s Newcastle were more clinical and warranted the victory.

A reality check

This defeat now puts Manchester City seven points behind leaders Arsenal if they were to secure victory in the North London Derby, handing a huge blow to aspirations of wrestling back their crown.

Certainly a deflating loss, especially coming off the back of strong victories against Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, but perhaps it was a result to bring those of a sky blue persuasion back down to earth.

A reminder that although City had been playing well recently and the atmosphere around the club was overwhelmingly positive, it is still clear that they are in a significant transitional phase given all of the recent incomings and outgoings.

It is now a much younger squad who still need time to adjust and learn what it means to play for Manchester City as they try to instil into themselves that winning philosophy that has been present for many years.

Obviously as football fans it is natural to want to get carried away and be optimistic, but this new era of talents must be given the licence to acclimatise to their new situation, so expecting the flawless footballing machine of previous campaigns is perhaps naive.

Have patience with this new-look side; it is different, yes, but once it clicks, it’ll click!