Newcastle United latest news: The Magpies were knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City at St James’ Park.
Pep Guardiola has heaped praise onto his players following their 3-1 win at St James’ Park on Saturday night.
Manchester City ended Newcastle United’s FA Cup run with a comfortable win on Tyneside in what was the fifth time they had met in all competitions this season. Having previously ended their hopes of retaining the Carabao Cup with a 5-1 aggregate win earlier this year, Guardiola’s side were once again party poopers on Tyneside on Saturday night.
A strike from Savinho, albeit one he knew very little about as the ball ricocheted off his legs following Lewis Hall’s missed interception, and a brace by Omar Marmoush secured the win for the Citizens and their eighth straight appearance in the final eight of the FA Cup. City travelled to the north east having won and lost at St James’ Park in their two previous trips this season but with a decent, if patchy, recent record away against the Magpies.
Praising his side’s performance on Saturday night, Guardiola told BBC Sport: “This is the best performance we have played in this stadium since my decade here. That is consistency and that is why I am proud.”
Pep Guardiola’s rollercoaster night at St James’ Park
Guardiola’s praise for his team’s performance continued when he spoke to TNT Sports: “It was so good. When we tried to make a sequence of passes we and especially Savinho and Jeremy Doku.
“They were so decisive. This was the best performance I have seen from us in this stadium during our time together here. Really, really good.
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“We played really, really good. It was important to score in the first minute of the second half. After that until the end was really good - the defending and the midfield, in general - everyone. Happy for Omar, a fantastic second goal. To beat Newcastle you have to perform very well, especially in the FA Cup.”
Guardiola, though, wasn’t always in a chirpy mood during the 90 minutes, with a number of refereeing decisions seeming to irritate the former Barcelona man. Guardiola was even booked by referee Sam Barrott for his protests after a decision not to award his side a free-kick for a supposed foul on Jeremy Doku.
Guardiola ripped his coat off in frustration after that decision before being shown a yellow by the official. On that, and a number of other supposed injustices that went against his side, Guardiola added: “Listen, it is not about penalty or no penalty. There are [refereeing] actions that is difficult for me to understand.
“When Jeremy [Doku] is pulled from behind, everywhere it is a foul except here. It is what it is. There will be a two-game ban. There will be holidays and the team will continue.”
Manchester City, like their hosts, now have a huge Champions League clash to prepare for as they make the trip to Madrid for the first-leg of their Round of 16 tie against Real Madrid. The Magpies, meanwhile, will welcome Barcelona to St James’ Park as they look to progress in the only competition with silverware available to them.
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