This was still a loss, but it was a palatable one. Newcastle were far from outclassed against Pep Guardiola’s title chasers, indeed in the final half-hour or so, as the Magpies spent an increasing amount of time in the Manchester City half pushing for an equaliser, there was a nervousness amongst the home support that has rarely been seen when the Magpies are the visitors.
Eddie Howe can take some comfort from that, not least because he was furnished with more evidence to suggest the tactical tweaks he has made in the last few weeks continue to make his side a more potent attacking threat, particularly when they are playing away from home, with space to break into.
Anthony Gordon, once again stationed as the central striker, unsettled to the City defence to the extent that Guardiola admitted he was forced to substitute Ruben Dias at the half-time interval for “tactical reasons”. Gordon was running Dias ragged when he was able to take him on one-on-one, and having expressed a desire to continue playing through the middle when he spoke in the wake of his four-goal haul in Baku last week, the England international’s bright, dynamic display can only have strengthened the case for him remaining in his current position.
Whereas Newcastle’s strikers have often been isolated playing at the Etihad, Gordon was generally not wanting for support on Saturday, with Anthony Elanga, Joe Willock and Jacob Ramsey breaking forward to join him in the final third whenever possible. Set up this way, Newcastle’s side is brimming with pace and energy in the attacking areas. It’s not perfect, with the lack of an orthodox ‘number nine’ limiting the Magpies’ ability to play certain balls into the 18-yard box, but it increasingly feels like the best way to go for the remainder of the season.
“We didn’t want to lose the momentum and good feeling that we’ve got,” said Howe. “The feeling has been really strong – you’ve seen a good response from the players.
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“The togetherness is really strong, and I think you saw that here on the pitch in the second half. We were going right to the end, and trying to find every ounce of energy we have to give them another challenge.
“They’re such a difficult team to chase the game against, but I thought we continued to press relentlessly. On another day, that could have been very different, but I just pleased we went the way that we did against them, right to the final whistle.”
The flip side to the attacking brightness was that the repositioning of Nick Woltemade, which had proved so effective in the wins over Aston Villa and Qarabag, wasn’t anything like as successful in a game when Newcastle had to do more defending, with their midfielders needing to break dynamically from deep-lying positions.
Woltemade was a passenger for much of his time on the field, and while there will undoubtedly be matches where the German is well-suited to playing as part of a midfield three, Howe might have to be more selective over his choice of games in which to deploy the new formula. Woltemade’s failure to adequately track or challenge Antoine Semenyo was a big factor in the build-up to Nico O’Reilly’s headed winner.
Newcastle’s defending for both of Manchester City’s goals was disappointing. Dan Burn was beaten to the ball on the halfway line in the build-up to the opener, with Nick Pope then palming O’Reilly’s shot into the net rather than tipping the ball around the post.
Semenyo and Erling Haaland were both afforded far too much room as they set up their side’s second, with O’Reilly then outjumping Kieran Trippier to head home at the back post. Shutting out Manchester City was always something of an unrealistic ambition, but Newcastle have now kept a clean sheet in just two of their last 20 league matches.
“When you lack at the players we’ve had injured, and the lack of rotation, I have to say that the back four have played really well,” said Howe. “Off the back of the run of games we’ve had, to keep turning up and producing good performances is impressive.
“There were a couple of mistakes in there, but overall the players are all out, doing their best for the football club. We’re missing some top defenders I’m sure would have made a difference.”