St James' Park proved to be a fortress once more for Newcastle United on Saturday evening when Pep Guardiola's Manchester City travelled to Tyneside.
This season so far in the Premier League, the Magpies are yet to win away from home, with three draws and defeats depressingly next to their name. At home, though, it's a much different story, with four league wins collected with confidence, which now includes a 2-1 triumph over the Citizens.
Harvey-Barnes
Harvey Barnes was the difference maker on the day with two well-taken efforts under pressure, with this being the first time Newcastle have got the better of their opponents from Manchester since a slim 1-0 success in the EFL Cup back in 2023.
On that day, it was Alexander Isak who would break the deadlock, and while the sting of his departure to Liverpool was certainly felt in the immediate aftermath of his exit, Eddie Howe's Toon aren't dwelling too much on him no longer being around now, with the 47-year-old boss no doubt pleased with the attacking display on show from Barnes and many others.
How Newcastle downed Manchester City
Howe was beaming from ear to ear at the full-time whistle, as he finally got a career win over Guardiola in league action.
He would also be over the moon for the aforementioned Barnes, with the 27-year-old winger repaying his manager's faith in him when being handed a fifth Premier League start of the season, as his first effort was stylishly placed home, before the vital second goal was somehow bundled into the back of the net.
Nick Woltemade would have felt aggrieved that he couldn't get on the scoresheet, though, with four efforts passing him by. Still, with four Premier League efforts next to his name this season, away from drawing blanks up against Gianluigi Donnarumma, he has filled the void left behind by Isak expertly.
Both Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes also stood out during the 2-1 victory, as Guimaraes assisted Barnes' first breakaway strike, while his Italian teammate won six duels and three tackles as a combative counterpart.
Bruno Tonali
Yet, there was one star who stood out throughout who could now be labelled boldly as Howe's next Isak, even with Woltemade at his disposal, for how influential he's become in such a short space of time.
Howe's new Isak-esque figure
Of course, while the £125m sale is now struggling to settle at Anfield, he was a consistent top performer on Tyneside when he was still donning the famous black and white stripes.
Indeed, a deadly 62 strikes were tallied up by the lethal Scandinavian during his 102-game stay at St James' Park, with Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher even hailing him as the "best striker in the Premier League" off the back of such potent form.
Isak Premier League record
He immediately hit the ground running in England, too, with two goals from his first three league appearances for the Toon, with Malick Thiaw also making the transition from European football to English shores look easy, making him a strong candidate to be considered Howe's next most influential player, much like Isak was.
With an 86% pass accuracy averaged across his eight Premier League games to date, and a commanding 4.6 duels won on average, some have even hailed the German as a "top five centre-back in the league this season", with Isak also in the same esteemed conversations as a top five forward in the division.
Thiaw vs City
Minutes played
Goals scored
Assists
Touches
Accurate passes
Tackles won
Last man tackles
Interceptions
Clearances
Blocked shots
Ball recoveries
Total duels won
Stats by Sofascore
Thiaw has only enhanced his reputation for being an influential member of Howe's first team with his commanding showing against Guardiola's visitors, with 14-goal hero Erling Haaland completely negated by the former AC Milan defender, who restricted him to just 23 touches of the ball and two shots on target.
NUFCBlog hailed the performance as "outstanding" against "the best striker on the planet" as Thiaw even impressively stood his ground one-on-one with the frightening Norwegian early in the second half, before a last-ditch intervention saw a chance go rarely astray for the number nine.
Malick-Thiaw-1
On top of that moment of ice-cold maturity, Thiaw would also bow out from the 2-1 win with seven clearances and six ball recoveries amassed, as City found it very difficult all night long to break down the Toon's resilient back line.
The hope will just be that Thiaw gets better with more time in the Premier League, like Isak, who transformed into a £125m-calibre beast.
Although this time around, Howe will also pray he doesn't have to give up the 6-foot-4 defender to the likes of Liverpool or any other suitor, as Thiaw becomes the manager's most crucial player.
Last season, that was reserved for Isak. This season, it's reserved for their new towering centre-half.
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