PLAYER RATINGS – Man City 5-0 Newcastle: Two awful 2’s, a few 3’s, several 4’s & the odd 5

A night to forget for Newcastle United, with us all over the shop throughout in a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Man City.

Here’s an assessment of each player’s performance along with my mark out of 10:

Dubravka – 5 – His positioning was extremely questionable for David Silva’s free kick to make it 4-0, giving him all the space in the world to score. That said, he redeemed himself to an extent minutes later with a brilliant stop to deny the Spaniard. He was left so exposed, but it’s hard to give him more than a 5 when he conceded that many and should’ve done better for their fourth.

Yedlin – 3 – Suspect positionally, often being dragged out into no mans land and made a complete hash of long ball that could’ve easily saw Mahrez make it 2-0 early on, but got away with it. Relies on his pace too often and does not look suited to playing in a four-man defence.

Krafth – 4 – Has done a good job at right-back over the past two games prior to this one, however he was left exposed in a rare outing at centre-back here. Not protected nearly enough by Yedlin or the midfield ahead of him, but his distribution was poor and he couldn’t get close to City attackers.

Fernandez – Usually reliable but this has to be his worst display as a NUFC player. Made a string of basic errors here, leaving Jesus unmarked for his goal, losing the ball in bad areas constantly and failing to clear his lines convincingly on more than one occasion. A bad night was capped of by an own goal. He couldn’t do much about it, however it summed up what was an awful night for the Argentine.

Rose – 5 – Made a few decent blocks and well timed tackles. Also worth noting few attacks came down his side in the first-half, with them appearing to target Yedlin on the other flank instead. That said, he was wasteful the odd time he got into decent positions at the other end, with him ruining one rare attack with a woeful under hit cross into a box full of NUFC players, and definitely looks like he’s lost a yard of pace (or two!). One of our better players in an awful overall performance, not that it was hard to look half decent here!

Lazaro – 4 – Looked our only lively attacker early on with one burst from half way into the Man City box, but should’ve done better for their two early goals, failing to track Silva for the opener and losing the ball in the build up to their second. Was bright the odd time he broke into Man City’s half, showing quick feet and a burst of pace, however he didn’t always do enough to help Yedlin at the other end.

Schar – 3 – Played in a more advanced role, with him starting in central midfield alongside Bentaleb perhaps showing how little Bruce trusts him to play at centre-back in a four-man defence?! Picked out the odd nice pass to showcase his undoubted quality on occasion, but was easily bypassed by Man City runners off the ball from start to finish. Didn’t look interested and just strolled about for most of it, once again.

Bentaleb – 2 – He showed his class in recent outings against Bournemouth and West Ham, however the on loan Algerian was extremely careless and casual on the ball here, giving it away in some awful areas and gifting Man City a 5th in doing so. He’s clearly got ability, but needs to switch on and stop taking unnecessary risks as he was nothing but a liability here. t

Ritchie – 4 – Closed down quickly and tried to drive forward when he could, but not much came off for him. Inexcusably hit the first man with the odd set piece delivery early on, but his balls into the box improved after that (the odd time he was in decent areas!), with him whipping in one dangerous ball for Joelinton in the second half. Contributed to City’s third, with a last ditch interception deflecting in off Fernandez in the second half.

Shelvey – 4 – As good as he was in our last two games, he was totally anonymous here. Played just behind Joelinton in the first half and tried to press, but City easily bypassed him. Moved into a deeper role in the second half but went missing again and couldn’t get on the ball.

Joelinton – 5 – Hardly an impressive performance and never looked like scoring, but he put himself about more than most and gave us the odd decent bit of hold up play – even if very little ever came of it given how isolated he was. A few heavy touches and sloppy moments, but he’s one of the last players I’d be slating in this one.

I usually do marks for substitutions but, between Manquillo, M Longstaff, Gayle, Atsu and Muto, I think I’d be wasting my breath if I bothered to based on what they were able to offer as Man City cruised to victory.

Let’s hope we are MUCH better at Watford on Saturday!

(Fancy writing for us? Get in touch at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

One thought on “PLAYER RATINGS – Man City 5-0 Newcastle: Two awful 2’s, a few 3’s, several 4’s & the odd 5

  1. Just shows what a takeover and investment can do for a club,man city different class ,the longer this farce of a takeover drags on the club’s at a total standstill. Can’t. Plan transfers , contracts it seems the fa have interest or concern for the long sufferings fans of one of the best supported clu 👿 bs in the league, lost all respect or trust for fa .

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