Finally, the real Newcastle United stood up.
In what has been the worst start to a Premier League season under Eddie Howe, something had been missing for far too long.
When the mighty Manchester City parked up at St James’ Park on Saturday, the locals were restless. Successive Premier League away defeats to West Ham and Brentford prior to the international break soured the mood on Tyneside, despite Newcastle winning six of their previous nine games in all competitions. Serious questions were being asked as they sat 14th in the table, just two points above the relegation zone. It felt like a game to be endured, rather than enjoyed.
Newcastle return to their horrible best in Manchester City win
But at home, they’ve always been a different animal, and two names on the team-sheet instantly gave the home fans a shot of confidence prior to kick off. Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento were starting at full-back, an extremely rare occurrence in 2025. They played a crucial role in Newcastle stunning the former Premier League champions with a 2-1 victory.
Hall’s recovery from a broken foot suffered in February was interrupted by a recent hamstring issue, while Livramento was making his return from a knee injury suffered against Arsenal in late September.
“I’m very happy to be back playing,” Livramento said afterwards. “It is a great result for the team and the city, the fans have been waiting for our season to kickstart.
“We worked really hard with three or four tough sessions this week, working on things the manager thought we weren’t doing in games. The international break really helped us fix a few things and then the internationals came back to add to the quality we have; there wasn’t much change coming into the game.”
Livramento praised the impact of the Newcastle fans in helping get the team over the line, and hopes it can serve as a reset for their league form after hard work on the training ground over the break.
“We rely on our fans a lot when we play at home, the energy they bring. We came into the game very positive.
“There are a few things we’ve been unbelievable at in the last two or three years, we’ve gone back to basics. We saw that today, the energy.
“We take every game as it comes. This was a great game; we’ve got to keep going. There are a lot of games coming up over the festive period.”
So often, the likes of Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Nick Woltemade take the headlines for Newcastle. But if Saturday proved anything, it is that Hall and Livramento, who many inside the club believe to be the best options England have in their positions with the World Cup on the horizon, are every bit as important.
At their best, as Livramento himself alluded to, Newcastle are fast, furious and too chaotic to contain. Much of that threat derives from the pair of them on either side, and in their absence, it leaves Howe’s team looking static and disconnected. Lots has been made of Woltemade looking isolated and on a different wavelength to the likes of Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes.
With Gordon missing through injury, potentially keeping a gruelling Champions League trip to Marseille on Tuesday in mind, Barnes started and scored a brace. The second goal came from a superb supporting run by Hall, who combined with the former Leicester winger all night.
Livramento, meanwhile, man-marked City dangerman Jeremy Doku extremely effectively, leaving huge amounts of space in behind him but risking it all to contain the Belgian very effectively.
In both an attacking and defensive sense, Hall and Livramento showed how critical they are to Newcastle at their best, going some way to explain their recent difficulties. Though stand-ins Dan Burn, suspended after his red card at Brentford, and Kieran Trippier, are reliable servants with their own strengths, getting up and down the field aren’t among them, accentuating the disconnect across the pitch.
Welcoming both Hall and Livramento back into the fold is extremely well-timed for Howe, but some fans are concerned about the latter’s long-term future. He has two years remaining on his contract in the summer and has been heavily linked with Saturday’s opponents, but wouldn’t be drawn on whether talks were planned over an extension,
“It is not something I’m in control of, I leave it to my dad and my agent,” he said.
“I’ve been focussing on getting back after seven weeks and helping the team. I’m very happy with how I played and that is my focus, staying where I am at now and helping the team as much as I can."
Newcastle’s season was in danger of seriously drifting, but the win over City has the potential to be a line in the sand. But with huge away games against Marseille, Everton and Sunderland over the next few weeks, more tests are coming thick and fast.
With Hall and Livramento together again, though, Newcastle hope to reach new heights this season, and that will only aid their burgeoning World Cup causes.
