Match report: Newcastle United 3-4 Manchester City
Louise Taylor was lucky enough to have a seat on a chaotic white-knuckle ride at St James’ Park. Here’s how she saw the action unfold ...
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Pep Guardiola speaks ...
“We play against 10 players in the box, they defend so deep,” he says to the BBC. “They are so, so fast on the counter. A tough opponent. Even with that we attacked good in the pockets but we conceded three goals in set pieces and we have to improve that.”
On Scott Carson’s debut: ““We are incredibly happy for him,” he says. “He is an important player for us. He is a real leader and today was an exceptional day to let him play.”
On his hat-trick hero Ferran Torres: ““Incredible numbers and goals in his first season in the Premier League,” says Pep. “He is so young and clinical. He is a guy brought as a winger but maybe we have to think as a striker. He is a good player.”
Steve Bruce speaks ...
“We gave it a right good go but when you play against these, defensively you have to be better than what we were,” he tells Sky Sports. “The sloppiness of a couple of goals is the disappointment of the whole evening for me. I mean, how often do you score three against this mob? Not very often. So, the disappointing thing is we were a bit naive and our defending had to be a bit better at times. But for the way the went about their work I was delighted with them but we sweren’t quite good enough.
“Overall our attacking play was good on the counter attack and we just weren’t quite good enough on the night. The biggest compliment I can pay them is that it’s difficult to set up against them. There are large periods where you don’t get a kick because they’re so good in possession.”
Ferran Torres speaks: ““It has been an incredible week,” he says through a translator in an interview with Sky Sports. “We qualified for the Champions League, won the Premier League and I scored a hat-trick. I am very happy.
“I try to improve day by day and also try to learn from my team-mates and my manager. I try to keep improving and getting ready for the Champions League final.”
Manchester CIty: record-breakers. Pep’s side have become the first team in the top four tiers of English football to win 12 consecutive league games away from home.
A quick match recap: Where to start? At the beginnning, of course. Emile Krafth headed the hosts in front from a corner, their first assault on goal after being dominated for the opening 25 minutes.
Newcastle were unlucky not to double their lead when Jonjo Shelvey thumped a free-kick off the woodwork, but soon found themselves behind after Joao Cancelo and Ferran Torres scored in quick succession. Just before half-time, Joelinton restored parity for Newcastle after VAR interceded to give them a thoroughly deserved penalty for a Nathan Ake foul on the Brazailian.
Newcastle won another penalty in the second half for a Kyle Walker foul on Joe Willock, who pulled rank on Joelinton and took the spot-kick. It was saved by surprise debutant Scott Carson but Willock was quickest to the follow up and put his side ahead again. Newcastle’s hopes of victory were cruelly dashed by another two sublime strikes from Ferran Torres, who scored his first Premier League hat-trick and walked off with the match ball.
Full-time: Newcastle United 3-4 Manchester City
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeep! Kevin Friend brings a surprisingly excellent game of football to an end with three shrill blasts on his whistle. Manchester City, the champions, have taken all three points but were made to fight every inch of the way by a Newcastle side who were outstanding on the evening, regardless of whatever negative spin their fans might put on the performance. Yes, they lost ... but ultimately it was City’s vastly superior quality that got them over the line.
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90+4 min: Raheem Sterling tries to thread the ball in behind for Torres to chase. It’s blocked.
90+3 min: Joe Willock lofts the ball into the City penalty area, from where it’s cleared.
90+2 min: City corner. Ilkay Gundogan’s inswinger is plucked from the air by Martin Dubravka.
90+1 min: Nathan Ake rounds off a fairly dismal night at the office by cantering up the left with the ball , attempting a pass inside and giving the ball away directly in front of his manager. Pep throws his arms up in the air in exasperation.
89 min: Torres breaks clear of Almiron and smashes a shot against Jonjo Shelvey.
88 min: Sean Longstaff concedes a free-kick halfway inside his own half. Manchester City square the ball, rather than lofting it into the Newcastle penalty area. Boo!
87 min: Manchester City continue passing the ball around amongst themselves, not giving any Newcastle player a sniff. Benjamin Mendy, it is, who eventually loses possession. Newcastle substitution: Dwight Gayle on for Federico Fernandez.
85 min: Well, 3min 34sec, to be more precise. Newcastle substitutions: Sean Longstaff and Jamal Lewis on for Matt Ritchie and Joelinton.
82 min: Manchester City are playing keep-ball - no Newcastle player has touched it in more than three minutes.
78 min: There are plenty of Newcastle fans who are prepared to give Steve Bruce no credit whatsoever for anything that goes right for Newcastle, but he deserves plenty or his tactics tonight. He knew his side would have to do plenty of defending but they’ve clearly been instructed to try and win the ball deep inside their own half and counter-attack as quickly as possible.
Even though they’re losing, that policy has been remarkably successful and yielded great dividends: a corner that led to a goal, two penalties that led to goals and a free-kick that led to Jonjo Shelvey hitting the post, among other dangerous attacks. Thomas Tuchel will be watching with interest.
76 min: Another brilliant counter-attack from Newcastle. Almiron sprints from inside his own half to the edge of the City penalty area with the ball at his feet and tries to thread it in behind for Joelinton who is up in support. Nathan Ake stands his ground and interrcepts.
74 min: Manchester City substitution: Benjamin Mendy on for Joao Cancelo.
73 min: Having fallen behind again, equalised again and gone ahead again, Manchester City seem to have finally taken control. Or have they? Newcastle attack again and Joe Willock shanks the ball badly high and wide from a tight angle when perhaps he should have squared it instead.
69 min: And breathe. There’s a break in play as Joao Cancelo gets treatment for an injury after a collision with Joelinton.
GOAL! Newcastle United 3-4 Manchester City (Torres 66)
Torres gets his hat-trick. He pivots on one foot and smashes home the kind of volley Mark Hughes in his pomp would have been proud of from ten yards. He was quickest to react after Joao Cancelo had smashed an effort from distance off the woodwork and his finish was sublime.
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GOAL! Newcastle United 3-3 Manchester City (Torres 64)
City equalise! An unmarked Ferran Torres stabs home his second of the night on the half volley from the edge of the six-yard box, converting a cross from Gabriel Jesus.
63 min: Having won the penalty, Joe Willock decided he wanted to take it despite minor protests from Joelinton. Having won the argument, his effort was saved by Scott Carson. Willock was quickest to react and slotted home on the follow-up.
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GOAL! Newcastle United 3-2 Manchester City (Willock 62 min)
Newcastle are ahead. Joe Willock puts his side aherad ... but only just!
PENALTY FOR NEWCASTLE!
Another Newcastle counter-attack and they win another penalty. Willock was tripped by Kyle Walker as he cut into the left side of the penalty area.
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59 min: Jonjo Shelvey is booked for a cynical shove in the back on Ferran Torres as the City winger tried to give him the slip. Free-kick for City, wide on the left in line with the edge of the penalty area. Bernardo Silva’s delivery is caught by Martin Dubravka, who immediately tries to send Willock on his way.
57 min: Joe WIllock wins another corner for Newcastle after having a shot blocked by Torres. Willock’s chance arose when he beat Ake to a delivery from the right and found himself with a clean sight of goal. Manchester City’s Dutch defender is having a very torrid evening.
56 min: Joao Cancelo is penalised for dragging on the arm of Jacob Murphy as the Newcastle winger tried to get away from him. Cancelo kicks the ball away in frustration and is promptly booked by referee Kevin Friend.
55 min: Carson gets down to save a low diagonal effort from Jacob Murphy. There wasn’t much power behind it but it was on target.
54 min: Ritchie’s delivery is sublime but there’s nobody on hand to turn the ball home. Manchester City clear their lines, eventually.
53 min: Newcastle win a corner, Ake putting the ball out and coming perilously close to conceding another penalty as he challenged Almiron for the ball.
51 min: Murphy concedes another free-kick, clipping Cancelo wide on the left a long way from goal. The ball’s squared to Walker, who plays a pass from deep towards the inside left area. Saint-Maximin ferrets away to win possession from Gundogan, who fouls him. Free-kick for Newcastle, deep inside their own half.
49 min: Gundogan whips the ball towards the far post and it fizzes out for a corner off Matt Ritchie. Nothing comes of the set piece.
48 min: After a period of City pressure, Gabriel Jesus is tripped by Jacob Murphy just outside the Newcastle penalty area, on the left edge.
47 min: Joe Willock does well to square the ball from the right under pressure but his delivery is too close to Scott Carson, who gathers and sends Manchester City on their way.
Second half: Newcastle United 2-2 Manchester City
46 min: Play resumes with Manchester City kicking off. There are no changes in personnel on either side but Manchester City have a heck of a lot more quality on their bench than Newcastle do on theirs.
Half-time: Newcastle United 2-2 Manchester City
Peep! Well, that was fun. It’s level at the break after a very entertaining opening 45 minutes. Newcastle broke the deadlock with their first effort of the game, Emile Krafth scoring from a corner won from an excellent counter-attack.
They almost doubled their lead when Jonjo Shelvey thumped a free-kick off the cross-bar, only for City to respond with a quick-fire double courtesy of a deflected Joao Cancelo shot followed by an audacious flick from Ferran Torres.
The last word of the half went to Newcastle, however, with Joelinton winning and scoring a penalty that was awarded on the back of yet another excellent attack on the break from the home side.
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GOAL! Newcastle 2-2 Manchester City (Joelinton 45+5pen)
Joelinton scores! There’s no fairytale for Scott Carson as Joelinton spanks the ball into the corner with considerable vigour. It’s all square.
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PENALTY FOR NEWCASTLE!
45+4 min: Yep, after a lengthy VAR consultation, Kevin Friend overturns the incorrect offside and awards a penalty.
45+4 min: To be clear: the ref had originally penalised Saint-Maximum for offside in the build-up of that move, a decision that has now been shown to be incorrect. That being the case, Newcastle should get a penalty here for the Ake foul on Maximin.
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45+2 min: Another promising counter-attack from Newcastle ends with Joelinton going to ground after having his leg taken from underneath him by Nathan Ake in the City penalty area. He’d received a pass from Saint-Maximum and was scuttling goalwards from a tight angle when he was brought down but refereee Kevin Friend has signalled that Saint Maximin was offside in the build-up before hev played the ball towards the Brazilian.
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45 min: Joelinton sends a firm header over the bar after getting between defenders to get his forehead to a menacing cross from Matt Ritchie.
43 min: City won a free-kick out by the left touchline and Ilkay Gundogan fizzed the ball towards the near post. Standing with his back to goal and a defender tight against him, Torres leapt, spun in the air and helped the ball on it’s way past Dubravka and inside the far post with a volleyed donkey-kick off the outside of his left boot. That’s a fantastic goal.
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GOAL! Newcastle United 1-2 Manchester City (Torres 42)
City lead! That’s a wonderful flicked finish from Ferran Torres.
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40 min: The equaliser is no more than City deserve but there was an element of good fortune about it. The ball came to Cancelo in a position on the inside left and he tried his luck with a low drive which took a wicked deflection off Jacob Murphy and fizzed into the far corner. In the Newcastle goal, Martin Dubravka was hopelessly wrongfooted.
GOAL! Newcastle United 1-1 Manchester City (Cancelo 39)
City equalise! Joao Cancelo levels proceedings at St James’ Park.
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37 min: Matt Ritchie has been booked for fouling somebody or other and is now called upon to hack the ball clear as Man City hunt for an equaliser.
34 min: SO CLOSE TO A SECOND! Jonjo Shelvey stands over the free-kick, waits for the whistle and thumps a splendid free-kick up and down over the wall ... and off the crossbar.
32 min: City win a corner they didn’t deserve after the ball went out of Sterling but Dummett clears the inswinger and sends Almiron on his way up the field on the counter-attack. Despite having Joe Willock up in support he tries to go it alone, runs into traffic and wins a free-kick just outside the City penalty area in a wonderful position.
31 min: City win a free-kick a few yards outside of the Newcastle penalty area, well right of centre. Ilkay Gundogan tries to sneak a low effort in by the near post but rather telegraphs his intentions and makes it a fairly straightforward save for Dubravka.
28 min: As terminally disgruntled Newcastle fans rack their brains in an effort to find something about being a goal up up against the champions to complain about, a couple of points to ponder: Manchester CIty’s Premier League record at St James’ Park in recent seasons is not particularly good and their record of overturning Premier League deficits when they’ve conceded the first goal is little short of atrocious.
GOAL! Newcastle United 1-0 Manchester City (Krafth 25)
Well, well, well! From the corner, the ball is played into the Manchester City penalty area, where Emile Krafth gets in front of Nathan Ake to head home at the far post. They’ve scored far too early, haven’t they? Don’t poke the bear.
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24 min: A ball over the top from Krafth finds Allan Saint-Maximin, who advances and squares for Joelinton. He tries a shot but his effort is blocked by Kyle Walker and put out for a corrner.
24 min: Nothing comes of it.
22 min: Emile Krafth blocks a cross to concede a corner; Manchester City’s first of the evening. Ilkay Gundogan plays it short, the ball’s sent into the penalty area and Jacob Murphy heads it out for another corner.
21 min: Dubravka makes his first save of the evening, getting down to his right to save a low drive from Cancelo with a minimum of fuss.
20 min: Gundogan loses possession on the edge of the Newcastle penalty are after tripping over either the ball or his own feet, but Newcastle gift the ball straight back to their visitors.
18 min: Dubravka leathers a goal kick long and City immediately win the ball back just inside their own half. Newcastle remain on the back foot and chasing shadows.
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16 min: Almost relentless pressure from Manchester City, who for all their dominance have yet to force Martin Dubravka into making a save.
15 min: Paul Dummett leaps to head a cross aimed towards Raheem Sterling on the edge of the Newcastle six-yard box clear.
13 min: Cancelo pulls the ball back from the byline after doing well to prevent a through ball in behind from Gundogan from running out for a goal kick. Ferran Torres shoots wide.
12 min: Ilkay Gundogan pulls a low, diagonal drive towards the far corner well wide of the upright.
10 min: Joao Cancelo sends a ball from deep into the hands of Martin Dubravka, overhitting a pass intended for Raheem Sterling.
9 min: Gabriel Jesus takes a poor headed clearance down on his chest and volleys the ball wide of the left upright from just inside the Newcastle penalty area. Poor defending from Newcastle.
7 min: Nathan Ake takes the first shot of the match in anger, shooting high over the bar with his left foot after being teed up by Rodri about 25 yards out.
5 min: Scott Carson gets his first touch of the ball in a competitive game for almost two years, clutching the ball to his chest before throwing it upfield. He wouldn’t be human if we wasn’t a bag of nerves but he said before the game that he thought it was healthy to feel a bit tense.
4 min: Matt Ritchie’s inswinger is cleared by Gabriel Jesus.
3 min: Joelinton wins the first corner of the game for Newcastle, forcing Nathan Ake to put the ball out as he tried to get in behind him at the byline.
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3 min: Pep spoke of the virtue of patience in probing for openings and not trying to force them as being key in his side’s turnaround in form earlier this season and his players are practicing what he preached in these opening minutes.
Newcastle United v Manchester City is go ...
1 min: Newcastle get the ball rolling and Jonjo Shelvey has an attempted punt upfield blocked. City get on the ball.
Not long now: Newcastle are first out and their players line up to give Manchester City a guard of honour, their first as newly crowned Premier League champions. Kick-off is just a couple of minutes away.
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Pep Guardiola speaks: “Everyone wants him to play because he is an important part of the group and the locker room,” he says of his decision to pick Scott Carson. “Everybody loves him so much and we wanted to let him play and be part of the success. I asked if he was ready to play and he said, ‘yes of course’. Our job is to do the best selection as possible and the guys playing today deserve to play.”
The Manager of the Month for April speaks: “It could only happen to me,” says Steve Bruce to Sky Sports. “We have waited a long time for an award in the Premier League and then you get this lot at home.
“They are worthy champions and have set the benchmark for a lot of years. You can’t but admire them. We have to take part and give them a game. Their biggest strength is their depth. You know whatever team they pick they are all very good players. [Raheem] Sterling and [Gabriel] Jesus up front. [Ilkay] Gundogan is still playing.
“We still want to get as many points as we possibly can and finish above the points total we got last year. I hope we can go out and play like we did against Leicester a week ago and cause them a few problems.”
Scott Carson: Somewhat coincidentally, Scott Carson’s most recent Premier League appearance also came against Newcastle on the 22 May 2011, a week shy of a decade ago. He was playing for West Brom that day, the game finished 3-3 and two months later he joined Bursaspor in Turkey.
Those teams: Scott Carson’s is the surprise name on that team sheet, the 35-year-old goalkeeper making his first appearance for Manchester City since arriving on loan from Derby County last August. Tonight marks his first Premier League appearance in a decade and his first competitive run-out of any kind since March 2019.
Elsewhere in the City ranks, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva and Eric Garcia come into the side. Sergio Aguero doesn’t even make the bench, possibly have earned himself a place in Pep’s bad books after that panenka against Chelsea last time out.
Steve Bruce makes just one change to the Newcastle side that beat Leicester City on this night last week, with Joelinton coming in for the hamstrung Callum Wilson.
Newcastle United v Manchester City line-ups
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Krafth, Fernandez, Dummett, Murphy, Shelvey, Willock, Ritchie, Almiron, Saint-Maximin, Joelinton.
Subs: Gillespie, Clark, M Longstaff, Carroll, Gayle, Lewis, Hendrick, Manquillo, S Longstaff.
Manchester City: Carson, Walker, Garcia, Ake, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Sterling, Silva, Torres, Jesus.
Subs: Steffen, Dias, Stones, Laporte, Mendy, Fernandinho, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer.
Tonight’s match officials
- Referee: Kevin Friend
- Assistants: Simon Beck and Adrian Holmes
- Fourth official: Lee Mason
- VAR: Darren England
- Assistant VAR: Harry Lennard
A word from Steve Bruce ...
Speaking ahead of tonight’s game in his pre-match press conference, Steve Bruce must will have gladdened the hearts of all those Newcastle fans who don’t want him at their club by announcing he has no intention of leaving.
Desperately unpopular with a fan-base who saddle him with all of the blame for bad results but none of the credit for good ones, he was defiant. “I will never walk away,” he said. “I won’t walk away from being criticised. I have a contract. Until I hear otherwise I will crack on. We are doing pre-season at the moment putting all the plans in place.”
Asked how he deals with the criticism he gets, much of it toxically abusive, Bruce said it was all part of the job. “I am a football manager,” he said. “It is what I do. I am not ready to retire yet. You dust yourself down, and have a thick skin. I am nowhere near retirement yet.
“I will crack on to the best of my abilities. We have had conversations on transfer targets like who is available on a Bosman. Or course we have. Quietly we are working away. The big conversations have yet to be had and that is in the next week or two.”
Early team news
Newcastle will be without Callum Wilson, who is sidelined with a thigh injury that is likely to keep him out for the rest of the season, while Jamaal Lascelles is similarly unlikely to return from his foot injury before the end of the current campiagn. Ryan Fraser, Karl Darlow and Ryan Fraser are also among Newcastle’s lame and halt, while Fabian Schar is serving the second instalment of a three-match ban for the red card he was shown at the end of his side’s recent home defeat at the hands of Arsenal.
Kevin De Bruyne is City’s only injured player and and is not expected to return until next weekend at the earliest. “He’s still injured,” said Pep Guardiola. “He’s getting better. When he will be fit, he will come to training and the guys will be 100 per cent mentally and physically for the chance to play the final. We have three games to get information on how the team and the players are.”
Premier League: Newcastle United v Manchester City
Having been crowned champions on Tuesday night without having to kick a ball, Manchester City must put any further celebrations on hold for tonight’s trip to St James’ Park.
Safe from the relegation many of their disgruntled fans felt was their destiny until quite recently, Newcastle United are their hosts for a game that is of little significance to either team but will at least enable City to keep the collective engine ticking over in a vaguely competitive environment ahead of the Champions League final in two weeks time.
Victory for City is by no means guaranteed – they have won on just one occasion in their past four league visits to Tynesdie. Kick-off this evening is at 8pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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