Man City 5-0 Newcastle: Mags mauled as familiar story unfolds at the Etihad

Back to back defeats for Newcastle United as Manchester City cruised to victory at the Etihad to move back to the top of the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

We had a big chance through Chris Wood early on – who headed straight at Ederson from a Saint-Maximin cross – and were punished for that miss moments later when Sterling tapped in to make it 1-0.

Some poor handling from Dubravka then allowed Laporte to tap in from close range before the break and more goals followed in the second half, as a Rodri header and 90th minute strikes from Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling helped City to a 5-0 win.

It was a tough watch – as it often is when we travel to the Etihad – but if you combine moments of Man City brilliance with missed chances at one end and defensive mistakes at the other, it’s never going to end well away to one of the best sides on the planet.

They taught us a lesson. We’ve come a long way in a short space of time under Eddie Howe and can look forward to an exciting summer soon, but this was a reminder of the gulf in class between midtable sides and those at the top.

Were we on the beach? I don’t think so. A lot of energy and effort has gone into our remarkable turnaround over the past few months, so it’s no real surprise that we’ve ran out of steam. We were just outplayed and worn down by a far superior side.

With Brighton, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Brentford all winning on Saturday, today’s defeat means we end the weekend in 13th – but still nine clear of the drop zone after Everton’s win at Leicester left Leeds in the bottom three.

STARTING 11: Dubravka – Krafth, Lascelles, Burn, Targett – Guimaraes, Longstaff, Joelinton – Almiron, Wood, Saint-Maximin.

SUBS: Darlow, Dummett, Schar, Trippier, Manquillo, Ritchie, Murphy, Gayle, Wilson.

Eddie Howe made THREE changes from the side that lost last Saturday, seeing Jamaal Lascelles, Sean Longstaff and Chris Wood replace Fabian Schar, Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Willock.

Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson were back on the bench, but Shelvey and Willock both missed out on our matchday squad with knocks.

We started the game well, setting up positively and creating the first big chance of the game. However, Chris Wood saw a free header go straight at Ederson after Allan Saint-Maximin did brilliantly to pick out the Kiwi. An ironic passage of play given what ASM had told the French press earlier in the week!

Believe it or not, we’d had more of the ball approaching the 15 minute mark, having 57% possession, yet there were a couple of lets off that went unpunished when Joao Cancelo and Aymeric Laporte both fired over after finding space in the box.

Sadly, it was third time lucky for the hosts a few minutes later as Cancelo got the run on Saint-Maximin, headed back across goal and allowed Sterling to tap in to make it 1-0.

We had the ball in the net just before the half hour mark through Wood, however it was rightly disallowed after the ball deflected off Joelinton from an offside position and into the striker’s path.

Bruno then went into the book for a late foul on Grealish that left England winger in a heap, leaving the blonde haired Brazilian walking a tightrope for the final 60 minutes.

A couple close shaves soon followed as City fizzed a few balls across the box to no avail, before a one-man counter attack from Saint-Maximin came to nothing after the Frenchman threatened to burst clear.

So, we were hanging on defensively against a fired up City side and trying to get forward when we could, although the latter was easier said than done when committing bodies at one end left us looking vulnerable at the other.

It’s a balancing act few sides find easy at City, however big mistakes are something you HAVE to avoid in games like this, making Dubravka’s contribution to City’s second a hammer blow just a few minutes before the break. He spilled a shot straight to Ruben Dias, whose effort then fell to Laporte to make it 2-0.

City were forced to make a change at the break as Fernandinho replaced Ruben Dias, but they came close to adding a third seconds into the restart after some dazzling footwork from Sterling found Jesus in the box.

The hosts weren’t playing with the same intensity in the second half, yet they had total control of the game, barely giving us a kick before Rodri headed in from a De Bruyne corner to make it 3-0.

Another poor goal to concede and some really poor marking from Krafth, who let the Spaniard get away from him all too easily before he fired home at the front post.

In truth, the second half wasn’t even a contest. Maybe Man City had sucked all of the belief out of this Newcastle side and yes they were in total control, but it was men against boys at times and another reminder of the gulf in class.

On a positive note, it was great to see Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier both come on with 25 minutes remaining, seeing our top scorer appear for the first time in 2022 and the England right-back return from that broken foot suffered in February.

We improved slightly after both came on, showing glimpses on the break and forcing one corner that Lascelles almost headed into Wilson’s path, however it was an end of season performance if I’ve ever seen one and a walk in the park for City at times.

A big chance came our way with just over 10 minutes remaining as Murphy – who replaced Almiron moments before – put Wilson through on goal, but Ederson was out quickly to smother our rusty number nine.

City then scored a fourth and a FIFTH in the final two minutes of the game as Phil Foden’s close range finish was followed by an emphatic strike from Raheem Sterling. More static defending and goals that sent us back to St James’ Park on the back of another battering at the Etihad.

Next up, our final home game of the season against Arsenal a week tomorrow.

Let’s hope we’re a little more up for that one!

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.

81 thoughts on “Man City 5-0 Newcastle: Mags mauled as familiar story unfolds at the Etihad

  1. Lots of talk this morning that the Ekitike deal is very close to being finalised – so suggesting that it might be a loan to buy deal.

    If that’s the case then that is incredible business to keep things right with FFP in this window. Loaning the lad rather than paying the £30m (ish) fee for him now.
    Loaning him allows us to then go spend on our main CF target.

    But, if it’s not the case & we are buying him now – there’s no question we are buying one of the best young players in Europe at the moment.

    I’ve said before I’d favour more PL experienced players, and I stand by that – but that doesn’t mean I don’t acknowledge Ekitike as a quality player.

    It would certainly by a good & exciting start to our transfer window.

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  2. I am going to bang this drum again since Craig Hope is now saying we have a budget of 60-80 million plus player sales because of FFP. The FFP rules apply over a period of 3 years and they seem to be very fluid at the moment as Everton have been given a free pass because of Covid. Hope goes on in his piece to name strikers who we are considering that would cost 60 million just for them such as Shick, Calvert-Lewin and Shick.

    We are going to get a massive sponsorship deal guys as soon as the Saudis see it as being politically expedient so our budget will be a lot more. The Pif can put up the money for players and then let the accountants work out the FFP compliance down the line as our endorsement revenue significantly increases. This is what City did.

    On player sales? Who do we really have to sell that would generate any significant money? Miggy? Probably 10 million but he would need to be replaced and his replacement would cost more. Maxi? Only if Eddie has given up on him being a team player! I reckon Eddie will give it another year to see if he has better players around him that he will not always be triple teamed as he is now. In any case, if we sell him then his replacement would probably cost just as much.

    I really think this budget nonsense has been sold to Journos by Amanda and Eddie as a way to bluff them into thinking we care more about FFP than we actually do.

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  3. You cannot say you are going to bring in 5 players who are going to be 1st team players and then say the budget is 60 mil. It defies logic, when Nunez would cost 60 mil and Paqueta another 40-50 mil. And Ekitike looks done at 30 mil. How much would Kalvin Plillips cost? None of this adds up.

    I know there is the out of free agents but I doubt we will be that active in that market. Maybe 1 or 2 as squad players. Does anybody think someone like Dybala would really be free? He would want a 20 million signing bonus and his Agent would want another 20 mil for himself.

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  4. So, we are going to be buying:

    Nunez
    Paqueta
    Targett
    Ekitike
    Botman

    All for 60 mil Luke Edwards and Craig Hope.

    Give me a break man, you have been bluffed and expect us fans to accept your bluff!!!

    If they are right then anybody on here can throw this back in my face.

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  5. So Liverpool are still on track for a quadruple. I dont think they will win the PL but are at least 50/50 for the CL. Madrid are a bit underrated if that is even possible.

    I am in 2 minds about whether I want the Red Bindippers to win the CL. On the one hand, it might cause Clive Tyldsley to stop talking about “that night in Barcelona”. I think he is retiring anyway! On the other hand, it would cause endless debate about whose treble is better. That would get very tedious very quickly. But I will start it off 🙂

    I think if Liverpool win the CL their treble will be better. Their team is certainly better than Man U in 1999, that’s for sure. But I will repeat the facts from 1999.

    Man U won the PL with 79 points.

    Man U beat NUFC in the FA Cup who finished 13th on 45 points.

    Bayern batterer Man U in the CL for 89 mins and should have been 5 up and then were sucker punched.

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