Match report: Manchester City 5-0 Newcastle United
Jamie Jackson is our Reni hat-wearing man on the Manchester beat and was at the Etihad to bring you this account of Manchester City’s latest victory. Read on ...
Steve Bruce speaks: “Painful, I’m afraid,” he tells BT Sport. “Especially after where we’ve been. They were just too good for us. Defensively, we’ve gifted them. We’ve given the ball away far too easily in dangerous areas. We were nowhere near it. I’m not going to make excuses but there were too many big players not playing. There was far too many of our big players not playing or struggling. We were nowhere near the level we had to get to if you want to take anything from here.”
Riyad Mahrez speaks: The Manchester City winger has just given an interview to BT S0ort that was so monosyllabic and dull that I won’t waste my own time or yours by reproducing any of it here. Suffice to say, pitch-side reporter Matt Smith made a valiant attempt to get him to speak, but might have had more luck extracting blood from a stone.
More on Tommy Doyle’s grandfathers: “According to Wikipedia (so it may not be true) Tommy Doyle’s maternal grandfather still holds the record for the youngest ever person to play for Man City,” writes Jimmy M. “He’s the commentator’s dream this lad.
“Glyn Pardoe (1 June 1946[1] – 26 May 2020[2]) was an English footballer who played for Manchester City between 1962 and 1974. He made his first-team debut against Birmingham City in April 1962. At nearly 16 years of age he became Manchester City’s youngest-ever player, a record which still stands in 2020.”
Doyle’s paternal grandfather, Mike Doyle, is also a City hero and you can read more about the family here.
Brighton v Liverpool: Brighton host the champions at the Amex Stadium, in a fixture that begins in 15 minutes. Scott Murray has the latest.
Elsewhere in the Premier League: Having failed to score all season, John Egan has gone goal crazy, bagging his second goal in as many games to give Sheffield United a late win over Wolves. At the London Stadium, Jay Rodriguez scored the only goal of the game as Burnley beat their hosts West Ham.
Full-time: Manchester City 5-0 Newcastle United
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! It’s all over at the Etihad Stadium, where Manchester City have pulled Newcastle’s pants down and given them a good spanking. If anything, a Newcastle side missing several key players dodged a hail of bullets after a bad day at the office, and will probably count their blessings that they only shipped five goals. They turned up with the air about them of a team that expected to get walloped and the hiding duly arrived.
GOAL! Manchester City 5-0 Newcastle United (Sterling 90)
David Silva atones for his sins by teeing up Raheem Sterling for a shot into the bottom corner after Newcastle had given the ball away halfway inside their own half. Far be it from me to point the Big Finger Of Blame at anyone at this difficult time, but I’m looking at you Nabil Bentaleb.
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89 min: David Silva cuts inside from the right and blasts the ball over the bar from a tightish angle, when he could have put it on a plate for Tommy Doyle, Bernardo Silva or Raheem Sterling, who were all unmarked in the Newcastle penalty area and screaming for a pass. Their senior team-mate apologises to all concerned. If anything, Clive, he had too many options.
88 min: The players of both teams are just going through the motions now, playing down the clock with Manchester City showing no real inclination to pile any more hurt on their visitors.
84 min: Newcastle double-substitution: Matt Ritchie and Emil Krafth make way for Christian Atsu and Yoshinori Muto in what we will politely call Steve Bruce’s last throw of the dice.
82 min: Kevin De Bruyne plays one of his flat, lofted passes into the Newcastle penalty area for Bernardo Silva to chase, but it flies straight into the arms of Dubravka.
78 min: Bernardo Silva advances on the Newcastle penalty area down the inside right, with Kyle Walker up in support. Bernardo runs down a blind alley and Newcastle clear. Matty Longstaff, who has just come on, already looks to be struggling with an injury.
76 min: Manchester City substitution: Tommy Doyle on for Riyad Mahrez. It’s his Premier League debut, so congratulations to him. Both of his grandfathers played for Manchester City, notching up almost 1,000 appearances between them, so he has very, very big boots to fill.
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75 min: Manchester City squander two good scoring chances in quick succession, the pick of them falling to David Silva, whose shot is turned over the cross-bar by an off balance Martin Dubravka. Good save. Nothing comes from the corner.
70 min: DeAndre Yedlin makes a good run down the right flank for Newcastle, looks up but sees no options open to him and plays the ball backwards. Newcastle are repeatedly on the retreat, even when in possession and it makes no sense whatsoever. I would be intrigued to hear the thinking behind this weird approach, or lack of approach. Perhaps somebody will ask Steve Bruce after the game.
67 min: Newcastle triple-substitution: Dwight Gayle, Matty Longstaff and Javier Manquilo on for Joelinton, Jonjo Shelvey and Valentino Lazaro. No pressure, lads.
GOAL! Manchester City 4-0 Newcastle United (David Silva 65)
Free-kick for City, just outside the Newcastle penalty area after Joelinton fouls Raheem Sterling. David Silva spots that the wall is not wide enough and insists on taking the set piece, pulling rank on De Bruyne. A second later, the ball is nestling in the back of the net after being dispatched into the top corner. Brilliant!
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64 min: Raheem Sterling tries a shot from the edge of the Newcastle penalty area after Valentino Lazaro gifts him the ball. His effort is blocked.
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62 min: More misfortune for Newcastle as Manchester City make a double-substitution: Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva replace Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus.
60 min: Newcastle have ridden their luck at times in this game but ran out of it on that occasion. With the ball at his feet, Gabriel Jesus was scurrying through the Newcastle penalty area. Matt Ritchie stuck out a foot to dispossess him, the ball flew up in the air and was diverted into the Newcastle goal by a ricochet off a completely unwitting and helpless Fernandez.
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GOAL! Manchester City 3-0 Newcastle United (Fernandez 58og)
Not that they need assistance, Manchester City go 3-0 up after Matt Ritchie’s attempt to dispossess Gabriel Jesus spins up in the air and goes past a hopelessly wrong-footed Martin Dubravka off Federico Fernandez.
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57 min: A cross from the left flank is controlled by Joelinton on his chest. He’s off balance and it bounces up in the air, allowing Nicolas Otamendi to head clear.
55 min: Kyle Walker is penalised for handball near the halfway line and Newcastle use the free-kick to play the ball all the way back to Martin Dubravka. Why? That’s inexplicable carry-on.
53 min: Not for the first time this evening, Newcastle struggle to play the ball out from the back under intense pressure from their opponents, end up lumping it towards the halfway line and losing it. It’s been a recurring theme.
50 min: Martin Dubravka claims a Kevin De Bruyne corner confidently, after David Silva had seen a shot deflected over the bar following a terrific cross-field pass by Kyle Walker that gave City a route to Newcastle’s goal.
49 min: At the far post, Phil Foden stabs the ball wide with the goal at his mercy after getting on the end of a looped delivery from Kevin De Bruyne. Another let-off for Newcastle – that was one of those opportunities that looked easier to score than miss.
47 min: Nicolas Otamendi tries to pick out Oleksandr Zinchenko with a short pass to the left touchline, but shanks the ball out of play and into the stand. It’s not often you see Manchester City players doing that.
Second half: Manchester City 2-0 Newcastle United
46 min: Manchester City, who had 77% possession in the first half, make two changes at the start of the second half. Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan come on for Rodri and Joao Cancelo. Newcastle haven’t made any changes in personnel yet.
Elsewhere in the Premier League
It’s scoreless between Sheffield United and Wolves at the interval at Bramall Lane. At the London Stadium, Jay Rodriguez has scored the only goal of the game between West Ham and Burnley, which the visitors lead at half-time. Brighton entertain Liverpool in tonight’s late kick-off, which you’ll be able to follow with the Guardian.
Half-time: Manchester City 2-0 Newcastle United
Goals from Gabriel Jesus and Riayd Mahrez separate the sides, but the scoreline flatters Newcastle. Missing several key players, they’ve been battered in that first half but are somehow clinging on. I suspect we might see Dwight Gayle introduced in the second half - his speed could cause Manchester City problems on the rare occasions Newcastle mount attacks on the break.
45+1 min: We’re into time added on at the end of the first half and while they’re two goals down, Newcastle’s players will probably be delighted the scoreline isn’t an awful lot worse from their perspective. They’re forced to withstand a late siege before adjourning to the dressing-room for their team talk. Will Steve Bruce use the carrot or the stick? His team have given away two cheap goals but can be reasonably pleased to be only two down.
44 min: Rodri picks out Zinchenko on the left touchline with a terrific pass. The Ukrainian’s low cross is cleared at the near upright.
43 min: Manchester City corner. Kevin De Bruyne’s delivery is poor and cleared at the near post.
41 min: Shelvey loses possession on the edge of his own area again, getting caught on his heels and allowing Foden to steal the ball and play a give-and-go with David Silva. He looks a certainty to score with only Dubravka to beat, but sends his shot from 10 yards out wide of the upright.
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38 min: Martin Dubravka has a goal kick to take and due to the tenacity of City’s forward players, there are literally no options open to him but to lump it long. There’s no shame in that, with Joelinton up front to try to win headers and flick-ons. Newcastle win themselves a free-kick wide on the left. Matt Ritchie sends it towards the far post again, where it’s cleared.
35 min: For the second time in quick succession, Jonjo Shelvey gives the ball away. The first time was just outside the City penalty area, this time it’s just outside his own. His mistake could have been costly - Dubravka is forced into conceding a corner from a Mahrez shot after good build-up play from Foden and David Silva.
34 min: Nothing comes of the corner, which is half-cleared by Kevin De Bruyne. An important header from Fabian Schar stops City mounting a successful attack on the break. Better from Newcastle in the past couple of minutes, but the bar is low.
32 min: Matt Ritchie is forced into giving away possession by a hard press, but Cancelo loses the ball and Newcastle attack on the counter. They win a corner.
31 min: Ritchie takes the free-kick, floating the ball to the far post. Federico Fernandez rises high to head the ball goalwards but Ederson saves comfortably.
30 min: A rare attack from Newcastle, who win a free-kick to the left of the City penalty area, for a John Stones tug on Matt Ritchie.
28 min: Kevin De Bruyne plays a neat little weighted pass through the Newcastle penalty area, spotting a run towards goal from Gabriel Jesus. The pass is pin-point, of course it is, but the Brazilian had made his run a split second too early and is flagged for offside.
25 min: Newcastle are doing very little pressing on the rare occasions when Ederson finds himself with the ball at his feet, looking for somebody to pass it. By contrast, Manchester City are pressing Newcastle’s players relentlessly when they’re in possession, forcing the kind of mistakes that led to City winning possession just before they scored their second goal.
23 min: Newcastle are struggling badly here and could find themselves on the wrong end of an absolute hiding if Manchester City are in the mood for piling on the pain. There’s a break for drinks and on BT Sport, match commentator Darren Fletcher suggests Newcastle’s players “make it a stiff one”.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Newcastle United (Mahrez 21)
It’s almost identical to the first goal, as Phil Foden puts a weighted pass down the inside-left for the unmarked Kevin De Bruyne to sprint on to. His pull-back from the goal line is fired home with Riyad Mahrez. It’s a textbook Manchester City goal, made very easy for them by Newcastle’s hideously bad defending.
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19 min: Replays of the Man City opener suggest it is Valentino Lazaro who will incur Steve Bruce’s wrath during the post-mortem. The Newcastle midfielder let David Silva run unopposed to collect Phil Foden’s through ball, before he squared it for Jesus.
17 min: Phil Foden drags a right-footed shot wide of the far post after gliding into the Newcastle penalty area. Hats off to Federico Fernandez, who refused to let him get the ball on to his favoured left foot. City should have had a corner there, as the ball took a nick off the Newcastle centre-back on it’s way wide, but referee Andy Madley didn’t see it. Goal kick.
15 min: Nabil Bentaleb puts the collective heart crossways in watching Newcastle fans with a loose, kamikaze pass just outside his own penalty area. Riyad Mahrez tries to pounce, but Martin Dubravka spares his midfielder’s blushes.
13 min: Ederson picks out Riyad Mahrez with a goal-kick. He finds himself through on goal but sends a rushed effort wide. He had more time than he thought to settle himself and pick his spot.
12 min: Newcastle win a free-kick in line with the left side of the Manchester City penalty area, about 40 yards from goal. Matt Ritchie’s delivery is poor and is headed clear.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Newcastle (Jesus 10)
Well, it was only a matter of time. Phihl Foden plays David Silva in behind as he makes a darting run down the inside left. There’s nobody marking him and he squares the ball for Gabriel Jesus, who sidefoots past Dubravka into the corner from a few yards out. On the touchline, Steve Bruce is furious with his defenders.
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9 min: Continued sterile domination from City, who are refusing to give Newcastle a sniff of the ball.
6 min: Emile Krafth concedes a corner, sticking out a leg to put the ball out of play after Kevin De Bruyne had picked out Oleksandr Zinchenko with a wonderful cross-field pass. De Bruyne takes the set piece, which Dubravka plucks from the sky with confidence.
5 min: Manchester City continue to dominate possession, assorted players passing the ball around just inside the Newcastle half, looking for an opening.
3 min: Martin Dubrvaka gets his first touch in the Newcastle goal, getting down to clutch a Riyad Mahrez shot from distance to his chest. The Manchester City winger cut inside from the right and unleashed a low drive, but Newcastle’s goalkeeper had it covered.
2 min: Jonjo Shelvey concedes an early free-kick, kicking out at David Silva and bringing him to ground a few yards outside the Manchester City penalty area.
1 min: Ederson gets an early touch and it seems, by the looks of things, Jonjo Shelvey is playing up front with Joelinton, which seems a little strange.
Manchester CIty v Newcastle United is go ...
1 min: Newcastle line up with five across the back as Manchester City gets the ball rolling. Their players wear black shirts, shorts and socks. Their hosts wear their usual home kit of light blue shirts, white shorts and white socks. Game on ...
Not long now: The teams are out and going through the last of the pre-match formalities on a very overcast evening in Manchester. Kick-off is just a couple of minutes away.
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Elsewhere on Guardian Football: West Brom are entertaining Derby County in a big clash in the Championship, which Ben Fisher is keeping a beady eye on. Kick-off at the Hawthorns was at 5pm and West Brom are a goal up as half-time approaches.
Back in the Premier League, where the Baggies look to be heading, Paul Doyle has coverage of Sheffield United v Wolves, while Simon Burnton is keeping tabs on West Ham v Burnley.
All is changed, changed utterly ...
But will a terrible beauty be born? Pep Guardiola makes five changes to the Manchester City team that lost against Southampton, bringing in Nicolas Otamendi, John Stones, Rodrigo, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden. Aymeric Laporte, Eric Garcia, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho make way.
Steve Bruce makes a whopping six changes, his hand largely forced by injuries. In come Danny Rose, DeAndre Yedlin, Fabian Scahr, Valentino Lazaro, Matt Ritchie and Nabil Bentalib. Jamaal Lascelles, Javier Manquilo, Miguel Almiron, Isaac Hayden, Allan Saint-Maximin and Dwight Gayle miss out.
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Manchester City v Newcastle United line-ups
Manchester City: Ederson, Cancelo, Zinchenko, Otamendi, Stones, Rodri, Silva, Mahrez, De Bruyne, Foden, Jesus.
Subs: Bravo, Walker, Sterling, Gundogan, Laporte, Bernardo, Fernandinho, Garcia, Doyle.
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Yedlin, Krafth, Fernandez, Schar, Rose, Shelvey, Lazaro, Bentaleb, Ritchie, Joelinton.
Subs: Darlow, Gayle, Muto, Manquillo, Almiron, Atsu, Longstaff, Allan, Young.
Steve Bruce speaks: “The beauty of the Premier League is the underdogs can put up a fight and put on a performance,” said Newcastle’s manager during his pre-match press conference. “We didn’t do enough against Man City in the cup, admittedly. We have to be a bit more aggressive in our approach tomorrow so let’s hope we can do it.”
Pep Guardiola speaks: “We have incredible targets to fight for, to try to play good,” said Manchester city’s manager. “This is the most important thing. We need to qualify for the Champions League. With five games left, we are able to do it. All the games we have been incredible. The performance has been there, even against Southampton. That makes me confident for the last games of the Premier League.”
Tonight’s match officials
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Referee: Andy Madley
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Assistants: Richard West, Andy Garratt
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Fourth official: Lee Mason
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VAR: Andre Marriner
Early team news
Sergio Aguero remains out with a knee injury and Gabriel Jesus is likely to deputise. HIs talismanic Argentinian aside, Pep Guardiola has a full squad to choose from.
In excellent form recently, Newcastle’s Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin are injury doubts tonight, while Isaac Hayden and Sean Longstaff have been sidelined with hamstring injuries. Andy Carroll (groin), Jamaal Lascelles (ankle), Ciaran Clark (foot) and Florian Lejeune (thigh) could also miss out.
Premier League: Manchester City v Newcastle United
An empty Etihad Stadium is the setting for a Premier League encounter between two teams with not a great to deal left to play for. Off the field, City and United fans are preoccupied as they await big announcements from the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Premier League respectively.
City will hear news of their appeal against a two-season Champions League ban in the coming days, while the Premier League’s decision on whether or not to approve the controversial PIF Newcastle takeover bid is also in the pipe.
On the field, we can but hope for some entertaining distraction. Kick-off is at 6pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
