Newcastle United's English head coach Eddie Howe gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on February 21, 2026.placeholder image
Newcastle United's English head coach Eddie Howe gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on February 21, 2026. | AFP via Getty Images
Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle United: Eddie Howe felt his side were unfortunate following the narrow defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
Newcastle United were beaten 2-1 by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.
Nico O’Reilly scored twice in the first half either side of a deflected Lewis Hall strike. Man City were able to hold on for the three points in the second half to secure a 17th successive home win against The Magpies in the Premier League.
It ends a run of three straight away wins for Newcastle, who remain 10th in the Premier League table with 11 games left to play.
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Eddie Howe reacts to Manchester City defeat
Following the match, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said: “Yeah, good effort from the lads today, physically.
“It's not just been a tough week, it's been a really tough run of fixtures for us. I think the big thing for me is that every time we enter the pitch I want the players to empty, I want the players to give everything in the pursuit of winning.
“I can't ask any more physically from the players today, that was us all out. We played with a good style, I thought, a good, clear plan.
“The players executed it really well, bar a couple of moments. The two goals I don't think we defended well enough, made individual errors.
“But we chased the game really well in the second half because it's a really tough thing to do here against this team. But I'm pleased with the efforts that the players gave.”
Eddie Howe disappointed with decisions
Newcastle also had a goal scored by Dan Burn disallowed for offside after the defender was pushed into an offside position by Ruben Dias.
Burn was also on the receiving end of a cynical challenge from Bernardo Silva, who was already on a booking at the time but avoided punishment.
“I only saw it from the viewpoint that I thought he was offside so I didn't see the push because I'm looking at a still frame really,” Howe said.
“I don't think we were on the right end of the decisions today, but I don't want to go down that road. I'm not one of those managers that wants to continually criticise officials, but I thought again it was one we probably didn’t get the right end of the decisions.”
When asked if he would seek answers over the confusion surrounding Newcastle’s disallowed goal and whether it should have stood, Howe added: “I don’t know about that rule. I haven't seen the push, so if that is the case, then I'll seek clarification.”
Ultimately, the decision helped Man City go on to secure three points and move just two points behind leaders Arsenal in the title race.
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