Bye!
Right, I’m off. A poor display from City, though it doesn’t hurt them too much, and an encouraging one from Newcastle, though it didn’t help them too much. It’s been a blast. Ta-ra!
In other north-east news, Middlesbrough have drawn 1-1 at Burnley, who equalised in the 92nd minute.
Newcastle remain one point behind Sunderland (with worse goal difference) and two off Norwich (with near-identical goal difference – Norwich’s is better by one – and a near-identical tally of goals scored – Newcastle’s is better by one).
@Simon_Burnton Man city Beat Chelsea 3-0. Draw against Newcastle 3 days later. Sums up this wacky premier league season.
— IreOfTheIyer (@gashwiniyer) April 19, 2016
Andros Townsend speaks:
I think both teams had chances. Both teams will come off the pitch thinking they should have had the three points. I think we’ve been criticised for our character once we’ve gone 1-0 down in the past but today we showed great character. We’d have liked the win, but we’re still in, we’re still fighting, we’re still in touching distance of Sunderland and Norwich, we’ll go to Liverpool and try to get the three points.
“That was a shocking performance from City. Everything about them today was not Manchester City for me,” rages Lee Dixon on the dodgy internet feed I’ve been forced to resort to because of technology issues here at Guardian HQ.
Updated
A very encouraging performance from Newcastle, who against an on-form and considerably stronger City side didn’t concede a proper goal, did score one, but even so they didn’t win. Still, good for the morale, I’d imagine.
Great fight and great performance from the lads!! Should have been 3 points if not for a very poor decision!#nufc
— Robert Elliot (@the_dilsh) April 19, 2016
Final score: Newcastle United 1-1 Manchester City
As we enter extra time at the end of extra time, Newcastle win a throw-in deep into City’s half. They take so long over it, however, that after 30 seconds or so the referee decides he can’t be arsed hanging around forever, blows his whistle and goes home.
90+5 mins: Seconds to go, and Sissoko fouls Sterling on the half-way line. Free kick, and a booking to boot.
90+4 mins: Dummett hoofs a high ball up to Mitrovic, who hasn’t really won many headers since he came on and doesn’t win this one.
90+3 mins: The players might have just set a record for most consecutive aimless hopeful passes and headers. Possession must have changed hands 15 times in as many touches.
90+2 mins: The home side continue to push, and will now do so without Perez, who will be replaced by Ayoze Perez, though he doesn’t seem in a hurry to go.
90+1 mins: There will be at least five minutes of time added on for stoppages! And they start with Newcastle on the front foot, and Hart rushing out to punch a Sissoko cross away from danger.
89 mins: Mangala gets booked for pulling on Wijnaldum’s arm until he falls over. Free kick for Newcastle. Could they?
Updated
88 mins: Wijnaldum has a chance to win it! And he doesn’t win it! Kolarov fluffs a clearance, Wijnaldum runs into the box from the right, cuts onto his left foot, weighs up a square ball to one of two supporting team-mates, decides against it, checks back onto his right, and then blasts a shot at the onrushing Hart!
Updated
87 mins: City hoist a free kick into the area, it’s kind of semi-cleared, and Bony heads towards the corner of goal. The ball moves in slow motion, never looking very likely to nestle in the net, but it nevertheless takes a Darlow dive to tip it round the post!
86 mins: The action has become a bit disjointed in the last couple of minutes, perhaps because of the substitutions, and also because of a string of free kicks.
“The final fixture of the season at St James’ Park is beginning to look ominously like one of the most significant in premier league history if Spurs can keep pace with Leicester. Are there any other precedents in Premier League history where the final day fixtures included a game between one team needing a win for the title and the other team needing a win to avoid relegation? Would that qualify as the most high stakes game of all time? What would happen in the 90th minute if it was tied? I envisage the Premier league version of playground ‘rush keepers’, or ‘pulling the goalie’ in ice hockey with two empty nets at each end of the field. It could be utter chaos.” Well we all love utter chaos. I’m absolutely certain there have been many precedents, incidentally, in the long and glorious history of English league football. But obviously I can’t think of any right now. Didn’t QPR kind of need to win their game against City in 2012, only not in the end?
84 mins: In further substitution news, Wilfried Bony comes on for Jesus Navas.
82 mins: In other north-east news, Middlesbrough are currently beating Burnley 1-0 in the tussle of the Championship top two.
81 mins: That’s the end of the night for Townsend and his tired brain. Wijnaldum comes on.
79 mins: Chance for Newcastle to make a chance! They don’t take it! Townsend hares down the middle, and Mitrovic runs to his left, not very quickly. Perhaps a chipped pass over the defence might have released him, but the cogs move slowly in Townsend’s tired brain, and instead he runs into a couple of defenders and loses the ball.
Updated
76 mins: Sissoko tries to slide a pass through Sterling’s legs, fails, it bounces around a bit and ends up with Townsend, who tries to slide a pass back to Sissoko through Sterling’s legs again. It doesn’t work either. Sterling’s only got little legs, he’s a hard man to nutmeg.
Updated
75 mins: Fernando plays a poor pass and Townsend intercepts so enthusiastically that he accidentally gives the ball back to Fernando again.
74 mins: De Bruyne hammers a shot goalwards from 25 yards but Darlow is equal to it, palming the ball into play but out of danger.
Updated
73 mins: Yaya Touré is off, and Fernandinho is on. On the sidelines, Pellegrini looks so impassive it’s like he’s sitting for a portrait. Or has been replaced by a portrait.
72 mins: A decent move from Newcastle ends with a very heavy touch from Dummett on the left allowing City to clear.
71 mins: That save from Agüero’s shot a few minutes back ended a run of four consecutive shots on target from the nippy Argentine that had gone in.
68 mins: Sterling comes on to replace Delph.
67 mins: Vincent Kompany gets a booking for a foul on Sissoko. Newcastle do nothing with the free kick.
@OptaJoe @Simon_Burnton How many apps/goals for Harry Kane? Could he smash Shearer's record? "Aguero's scored 100 PL goals in just 147 apps"
— Galen (@gnorman125) April 19, 2016
Looks like Kane’s scored 48 times in 82 Premier League appearances, at which rate he’d need 171 games to reach triple figures.
64 mins: Chance for City! A low ball from the right finds Agüero in space, and he shoots low, hard and pretty much down the middle from 15 yards. Darlow saves, and though the ball bounces a very long way back into play, there’s no City player to snaffle it up!
63 mins: Newcastle don’t look like worldbeaters tonight, but they’re playing well enough to make Steve McClaren look very silly. Well, very slightly sillier than the already extraordinarily silly levels of silliness he was already enjoying.
60 mins: Oooh! Townsend sprints down the right and crosses towards Mitrovic at the far post, but Zabaleta gets his head on the ball first. Corner!
58 mins: Navas receives treatment for a while, but is soon back on the pitch and dancing about, apparently unaffected.
56 mins: Perez gives the ball away to Navas and slides in, attempting to win it back but making contact only with the Spaniard’s ankle. Perez is booked.
55 mins: To massive roars from the home crowd, Mitrovic comes on to replace Cissé.
54 mins: Save! City win a free-kick on the right as De Bruyne gets booted, not for the first time this half. Touré takes it quickly to Navas, bursting from the right into the penalty area, and his low shot is well saved by Darlow!
Updated
52 mins: City roar down the other end, where Mbemba and Lascelles are each called upon to make important blocks.
52 mins: Oooh! Kompany undercooks a back-pass, and Hart only just gets to it ahead of Sissoko.
Updated
50 mins: Chance for City! But Agüero falls over instead of shooting! De Bruyne plays the ball infield from the right, Agüero collects, spins and should have shot at that moment. Instead he waits, is closed down, and falls over optimistically. The referee decides it’s neither a penalty nor a dive.
49 mins: Townsend’s free-kick is of that most disheartening variety that appears to have picked out a suddenly totally clear team-mate – Perez in this case – only to float over his head and straight to the keeper.
48 mins: A bit of a delay while Tioté receives treatment, having somehow hurt himself while being half-heartedly challenged by Delph.
47 mins: Townsend runs up to Kolarov, squares him up, nudges the ball past him and falls over. There’s no way the City player could have failed to obstruct him there, except by disapparating. The referee gives a foul all the same.
Peeeeeeeeep!
46 mins: Newcastle get half two under way, and are straight back in their stride, passing the ball around pleasantly before giving it away on the edge of the area.
The players are back out, with both teams unchanged. And I think I’m with Paul (though thankfully on my part it’s just conjecture):
@Simon_Burnton if we play like this and still go down (I think we will) it'll be awful because of the "Why didn't they do that every week?!"
— Paul Waggott (@paultwaggott) April 19, 2016
“Do you think Guardiola will bring Bayern Munich players with him?” wonders Tim Besley. “Especially a defender considering city’s dire issues in defence. If so, who would you say is a likely contender?” When he left Barcelona I recall him promising not to plunder their ranks, and in the end took only Thiago Alcântara, who wasn’t an established first-teamer at the time. I would expect a similar pledge this time. City have though been linked with David Alaba, who would probably be the player he’d most want to sign.
If Newcastle play like this for the rest of the season but can’t quite haul themselves out of the bottom three, would their relegation be more disappointing than if they’d just continued to play like utter chumps and gone down in disgrace?
Also among Dave Bryan’s greatest hits – although he can’t be blamed for this one:
Half time: Newcastle United 1-1 Manchester City
A very encouraging half for the home side, who have held their own against a City team who many expected to win at a veritable canter.
Updated
45+1 mins: Into stoppage time we go, and there’ll be but a single minute of it.
44 mins: Perez, who’s had a poor game so far, gives the ball straight to Kolarov, who is cynically brought down by Anita before he can launch a counter-attack, leading to the day’s first booking.
Updated
42 mins: The assistant referee who has made the high-profile errors tonight is Dave Bryan, once labelled “disgusting” and “horrific” by Roberto Martínez.
39 mins: Kolarov reaches the byline and crosses straight out for a throw-in. Moments later Touré chips over the defence to the onrushing Zabaleta, who is given offside. Newcastle fans cheer as a decision goes their way, but in fact the linesman got this one wrong too – Zabaleta had timed the run perfectly.
38 mins: That game at Hull in which Anita last scored is better remembered for Alan Pardew’s headbutt, sadly.
35 mins: City have moved Delph to the left flank, allowing De Bruyne to come inside and influence the game a bit more regularly. They’ve done very little since they scored their blatantly offside goal.
Updated
33 mins: That’s Anita’s first goal for over two years, since the 4-1 win at Hull in March 2014. “When last did Newcastle come from behind to win the game?” wonders Tommy Scott. At White Hart Lane in December
GOAL! Newcastle 1-1 Manchester City (Anita, 31 mins)
Anita gets the ball on the right, cuts inside Kolarov, isn’t properly closed down, and shoots low with his left foot, across goal and in at the far post!
Updated
29 mins: What a miss from Sissoko! Kolarov gives the ball away in midfield and Sissoko swoops upon it and hares off upfield, hurdles a desperate lunging challenge and suddenly there’s nothing ahead of him but grass, Hart and goal! Onwards he gallops, and someone sprints to his right to offer a possible pass and distract a defender! On and on he goes, until he’s inside the area, still with just Hart and goal ahead of him! He sidefoots to Hart.
Updated
28 mins: Boos ring out as play is stopped so that Yaya Touré can do some exaggerated blinking. He appears to have something in his eye.
25 mins: Sissoko gives the ball away foolishly to Touré, who gives the ball away idiotically to Cissé, who runs into a defender, who clears. Then City run down the other end and Navas, with a crossing opportunity from the right, falls over and scuffs the ball out of play. You won’t be seeing any of the 25th minute in your highlights packages.
23 mins: Chance for City! Lascelles is given the ball in space, high up the pitch, and calmly sidefoots it straight to De Bruyne. Whoops! He backtracks rapidly, De Bruyne runs forward, and there’s an easy pass available to Agüero to his left, who would have a clear run on goal, but instead he keeps running and then blasts wide from the edge of the area.
21 mins: It’s harsh on Newcastle, who have been playing as well as they could reasonably have hoped, even if they have done all their attacking on Townsend’s side of the field. “So after all the carry-on about referees the brothers and sisters from the dark side will now be demanding who the linesman supports,” sniffs Austin Baird.
18 mins: Newcastle work the ball patiently around midfield and to the right wing, from where Townsend send the ball looping into Hart’s hands.
By a whole body. Shocking decision. #nufc pic.twitter.com/pr6qrrsWiO
— Adam. (@Adam_NUFC98) April 19, 2016
17 mins: It’s a terrible decision from the lino, that. Agüero was on his own, well beyond every other player on the field (bar Darlow, obviously), when the free-kick was taken, a bread and butter decision.
16 mins: That’s Agüero’s 100th English top-flight goal.
100 – Sergio Aguero has now scored 100 PL goals in just 147 apps; only Alan Shearer (124 apps) reached this milestone in fewer games. Rapid.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 19, 2016
Updated
GOAL! Newcastle 0-1 Manchester City (Agüero, 15 mins)
Kolarov wins a cheap free kick on the left, slightly slowing his run so that Townsend runs into him, and then sends it into the area at pace, and Agüero – a good yard offside when the kick was taken – heads in!
Updated
12 mins: There seem to be a lot of players in midfield here, resulting in lots of people giving the ball away and taking it back again in a great big bundle in the middle of the field, with large gangs of footballers running about after the ball like it’s one of those cheeses that people chase down hills in Gloucestershire
9 mins: Zabaleta is released on the right, but he overlapped a little enthusiastically, and is given offside. Moments later Navas is also offside on the same flank. A bright opening here, though, from both teams.
Updated
6 mins: Two corners in quick succession from Townsend, the second of which clears the penalty area by a good 10 yards and bounces out of play. I know players get shouted at if they fail to clear to first defender, but clearing the last defender plus all your own team-mates isn’t that helpful either.
5 mins: Cissé heads over the bar! Townsend crosses from the right, and Cissé meets it 10 yards out and just beyond the near post, and can’t quite get it on target.
3 mins: Navas runs into the area, but the defence hacks the ball back to him, and when he crosses again it’s booted to safety.
@Simon_Burnton Wow--is it normal to tell tales on teammates in the match programme? #Shelvey
— Holly Mac (@hollyaftagley) April 19, 2016
Unless it was told in a light-hearted spirit that doesn’t come across in print, it’s pretty extraordinary.
1 min: Agüero flicks the ball to De Bruyne, running down the left, and the Belgian attempts an outside-of-the-right-boot cross towards Navas, which Dummett clears.
Peeeeeeeep!
1 min: Manchester City get the action started, and immediately work the ball back to Hart, who gives it a merry hoof.
The players are out, and hands have been shaken. Action is but a few moments away.
Benítez and Pellegrini are having a right chinwag in the tunnel. Then they’ll stop talking, walk out and shake each others’ hands like they’ve only just met.
Updated
Newcastle’s players have arrived. And now, finally, the referee.
Newcastle are Periscoping the scenes in the tunnel, and I can thus tell you that the away players are waiting to go out, and also for the home players.
Apparently there’s an interview with Jamaal Lascelles in today’s programme in which he describes Jonjo Shelvey as “the worst trainer at the club”, adding that “when things don’t go his way, he loses his head”. Crikey. Shelvey is on the bench again tonight.
Manuel Pellegrini speaks:
Kompany’s very important. It’s important for the player, because he has too many injuries, and also for the team, because he’s the captain and always gives us a lot of trust.
I think the best way to arrive in good shape for the semi-final is try to play well, as we did against Chelsea. It’s important tonight to have the same performance as a team. When you have all your best players, playing all of them together 100% fit, the team improves its performance. We had some difficult games during the season but for the moment, we won already the Capital One Cup, we are in the semi-finals of the Champions League, we are for the moment in a spot for the Champions League, so I think it is not a bad season.
Discouraging statistics dept:
Just 1 of Newcastle's past 59 shots v Man City have found the net.
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) April 19, 2016
In contrast, City have scored with 14 of their past 59 shots v Newcastle
Rafael Benítez has spoken:
I’m really pleased with the 14 players that were playing the other day, but fresh legs can always help the team. I think Sissoko was training well. To be the captain is more responsibility for him, and I think he is playing well. We have more belief. We know today’s a massive game, a very difficult game, but we have belief that we can get three points, and we’ll see what happens at the end of the season. If we win tonight it would be massive for the whole city.
Newcastle can stay up this season, even if they lose this game. Norwich’s last top-flight season ended with games against Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, they got one point from those fixtures and finished three points and a massively inferior goal difference from safety. This year they’ve got Arsenal and United again, plus Watford at home and Everton away. If they win two of those games they’ll probably survive, but any less and one of the north-east twosome will overtake them. Sunderland’s fixtures (Arsenal (h), Stoke (a), Chelsea (h), Everton (h), Watford (a)) are probably more encouraging, but Newcastle (after tonight there’s Liverpool (a), Palace (h), Villa (a), Tottenham (h)) have two winnable games, and might benefit if the title race is over before the final day. If they were to win tonight, they’d be favourites to stay up.
“Three questions I want to ask,” writes Tommy Scott. This is a good start. We like questions. So, one by one:
- “Why is Kompany playing?” Easy start. Because he can. Presumably the intention is for him to play for as long as he can today, spend Saturday’s game on the bench and then start against Real Madrid.
- “Who is the best and worst man city player this season?” Best: Agüero and De Bruyne, Agüero winning because he’s played more games. Worst: pick a defender, though Touré has been poor when I’ve seen him, and unlike most of those defenders he was at least good for City once.
- “Can Man City still win the League?” Not this season, but next year it’s City v Spurs (or Bournemouth, if football’s still being crazy).
So Manchester City make three changes to the team that beat Chelsea 3-0: in come Vincent Kompany, Fernando and Fabian Delph, and out go Nicolás Otamendi, Fernandinho and Samir Nasri. Newcastle make one change to the side that beat Swansea by a similar score: Ayoze Perez replaces Georginio Wijnaldum.
Updated
The teams are in!
The team sheets have been handed in, and these were the names on them:
Newcastle: Darlow, Anita, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett, Tioté, Colback, Townsend, Sissoko, Perez, Cisse. Subs: Wijnaldum, De Jong, Shelvey, Aarons, Saivet, Woodman, Mitrovic.
Man City: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Mangala, Kolarov, Fernando, Delph, Jesus Navas, Toure, De Bruyne, Aguero. Subs: Sterling, Caballero, Bony, Fernandinho, Demichelis, Otamendi, Iheanacho.
Referee: Kevin Friend.
TEAM NEWS: Here is how Newcastle United will line up against Manchester City tonight (7:45pm BST). #NUFC pic.twitter.com/OIb2wdmEQF
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) April 19, 2016
TEAM NEWS | Here's your #mcfc starting XI for tonight! #nufcvcity pic.twitter.com/VzPChwcnfy
— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) April 19, 2016
Hello world!
And so, for the first time in a while, Newcastle have reason for hope. Just three points behind Norwich, with a game in hand, if they win tonight they won’t be in the bottom three. Not since the glorious days of mid-December, when they briefly revelled in 15th position in the Premier League, have Newcastle spent more than 48 hours outside the relegation zone. On the down side, Newcastle have lost all of their last 12 games against Manchester City, and six of their last eight against everybody. “I think they will keep an eye, for sure, on the Champions League – and hopefully we can take advantage of that,” rambled Rafael Benítez, but while it’s true that City have had a few disappointing results immediately before European fixtures this season, it seems more likely that Stoke will take advantage of that, when they play them on Saturday just a few days before the visit of Real Madrid (as indeed they did in December, when they beat City 2-0 at the Britannia Stadium just before Manuel Pellegrini’s side played Borussia Monchengladbach). “We just have to be aware and ready for a difficult game against a lot of very good players,” continued Benitez.
Certainly the City that trounced Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday could be pretty reliably expected to treat Newcastle with even more disdain, but then it’s a funny old game, etc and so forth, which is, in brief, also the most reasonable argument to support Newcastle’s belief that they’re capable of a great escape.
Simon will be here shortly. Whilst you wait, have a read of why Rafael Benítez is hoping that Manchester City will be distracted by the prospect of a Champions League semi-final against his former club, Real Madrid
I’m sure Pellegrini will try to do that [keep them focused] but, in the back of your head, you are thinking the semi-final is massive, to be in the final and have the opportunity to win the final, so imagine if you pick up an injury or have any problem, so I think the players will be thinking about that – hopefully, a lot of them.
Read the full article here. Or have a go on this, from Jamie Jackson:
