Anthony Elanga’s first goal aside, it was another disappointing and potentially damaging game on the road for Newcastle United last night.
To pile on the misery on a 5-1 aggregate defeat and Carabao Cup exit, we left the Etihad with yet another injury worry, as Anthony Gordon was forced off with a hamstring injury just before the break, seeing Harvey Barnes come on.
Considering we have seven more games to play over the final three weeks of February, the last thing Eddie Howe needed was another injury on a night where Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Lewis Miley, Fabian Schar, Tino Livramento and Emil Krafth were all absent once again.
Speaking after the match, Howe described Gordon’s injury as a “big worry” in his post-match press conference, although he did tell Sky Sports that it “doesn’t look too bad”, hinting that he may have avoided anything serious.
After his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Howe told the press pack: “It looks like a hamstring problem. I don’t quite know how bad it is. It was enough for him to come off, so that’s a big worry.”
Even if Gordon’s issue be a minor one, he now looks highly likely to miss at least our next two Premier League games; Saturday’s must-win home clash with Brentford and our trip to Tottenham next Tuesday.
This could open the door to Harvey Barnes moving back to the left wing, with Elanga now battling a fit-again Jacob Murphy for that right-sided role after scoring his first for the club last night.