Man City try every trick in the book but Anthony Gordon’s cunning foils their dark arts

The next time Manchester City want to complain about teams using the dark arts against them, it will be worth pointing out they are no strangers to the more dubious aspects of game management after Newcastle United put a decent-sized dent in their aura.
Having complained about Arsenal’s underhand methods and cynical game management in dropping points last weekend, City tried every trick in the book to hold on to their lead at St James’ Park and failed.
Having taken the lead through Josko Gvardiol in the first half, after a lovely piece of skill from Jack Grealish – who left Kieran Trippier and his odd pair of boots lying on the turf by the touchline before finding Gvardiol inside the Newcastle box – City emerged in the second half desperate to take the sting out of the game.
Newcastle will always be at their most dangerous when they build up a head of steam in front of their own fans, but this is especially true of the current Eddie Howe team that feeds off that sonic force more than most. When they can play at speed, attacking teams from different angles and at pace, they are at their best. The more breathless the contest the better, the frenetic action activating the noise from the crowd that so often helps overwhelm teams.
Brilliant work from Jack Grealish, even better work from Joško Gvardiol 🎯The defender gives Man City the lead ✨📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/fZ0SaRQDLC
Pep Guardiola has been in English football long enough to know that if you can silence Newcastle’s supporters and frustrate the team on the pitch, depriving them of momentum and attacking impetus, you are far more likely to win the battle. City have only won here once in their last four visits and it is becoming a daunting place for them to travel to. It showed in their second-half approach.
City tried every ploy they could to make the game stop and stutter. They slowed things down at every opportunity, taking as long as they could with every restart, whether it was a goal-kick or a throw in. They looked to create as many breaks in play as possible, falling over for free-kicks, drawing as many soft fouls as they could trick Newcastle into making. Grealish is the master of it and swiftly became the villain of the piece, but City tried it all over the pitch.
Yet, in trying so hard to control the pace of the game, in looking to contain and frustrate, they forgot to keep attacking and Newcastle were not going to be seen off so easily. With Trippier leading things, they got in the faces of City’s players. They matched the champions physically, leaving a boot in there and elbow there. It was that sort of bruising tactical tussle.
And when Newcastle did find a way to inject some speed into their play, City were carved open. In slowing the game down too much, they struggled when it sped up again. Newcastle pinged the ball about well in the middle of the pitch. A Bruno Guimaraes through-ball to Anthony Gordon was perfect and the Newcastle forward played the situation perfectly.
The first touch drew Ederson off his line and the second drew the foul inside the box. There is no doubt Gordon was looking for the contact, Ederson clipping him as he went past, but once referee Jarred Gillett gave the spot-kick on the field it was never going to be overturned by VAR. Whether you believe Gordon dived is up to you. Maybe he did, but it was ultimately a clever piece of play that earned the sort of penalty strikers have been winning for years. Gordon, who was superb all afternoon, sent Ederson the wrong way from the spot.
For the next 10 minutes, City were in danger of being overwhelmed before gradually regaining their control. Newcastle were clinging on by the end, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both missed chances they might have been expected to take while goalkeeper Nick Pope made one excellent save to tip Bernardo Silva’s effort over the bar.
But Newcastle were always in the game. They always carried a threat and without Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne in midfield, City were largely stifled, forced to pass the ball around on the edge of the area without the penetration to get into the box often enough to hurt their hosts.
“It is difficult to contain any team for 90 minutes,” said Howe. “They play their brand of football and are only one mistake from being counter-attacked. But I think we are a difficult team to contain because we have pace all over the pitch. The goal was a great example of how we can hurt teams like Manchester City. I felt we had a goal in us all afternoon.”
For Guardiola, there was predictable irritation when questions about Rodri’s absence came up after the game. He insisted his side had played well but his admiration for Howe and his Newcastle team shone through after the final whistle.
The two managers indulged in a lengthy conversation on the touchline before going their separate ways and Guardiola explained. “I always said the only reason Newcastle struggled last season was because of all the injuries they had. We controlled them so well most of the time, but they are very direct, they have a lot of speed. They compete really well. I admire him [Howe] and the way he approaches the game.”
Guardiola’s team sensed that too, but just as they overcame Arsenal’s use of the dark arts to secure a point last weekend, Newcastle overcame theirs to do the same here. That’s four points dropped in two games. City’s aura is not quite the same as it was.
“I could feel we would have that reaction based off the training we’ve done… we had a training week where everyone was kicking each other, you could see everyone wasn’t happy from the previous game. 
“It was hard against City because you never want them to have any sort of advantage. We felt OK at half-time, we were very positive. We always felt that we’d get moments and when we did we took them. 
“The way I play striker you will see a lot of pressing. Because I’m not an out-and-out No 9 I have to sort of play it my way so you can see [Howe] shouting at me to get up and press the keeper which can be hard at times but it’s what I’ve got to do.”
On the penalty: 
“I just sort of bent my run. I thought I was going to be offside to be honest. The closer I got to the keeper he just smothered me, I tried to take it around him and he fouled me.”
“In general we played really good… we have a bad decisions in the last moments to make it 0-2. It’s so difficult. Defend so well and so high and defend so, so deep. It’s what happened lately but we had the chances. Pope was brilliant… but, yeah, we take the point.”
On the penalty: 
“I didn’t see but apparently it’s a penalty, yeah. When we scored the goals, we played better. We made a mistake and after that we played better. But after that… we didn’t have the chances to win.”
Should a midfield player have taken the game by the scruff of the neck?
“That was not the reason [we didn’t win] today.”
“I know, we know how tough these games are going to be. Especially when you play at home you want to have the crowd behind from the first minute. I think we did brilliantly, made it difficult for them. Had some chances and overall it’s a deserved point for both teams. 
“They probably had one chance in the first-half and obviously they scored. We’ve done brilliantly the first 45 minutes so it was a huge disappointment but we kept going and I think after we obviously score the 1-1 we deserved to equalise. 
“Always when you play here, when you score especially against Man City the fans see how much you put into the game and obviously they are 100 per cent behind us and it gives us a percentage of extra energy. We tried to go again and score the second but at the end we’ll take the point.”
Guardiola and Howe shake hands and have a lengthy and friendly, I think, exchange of words on the touchline. 
Newcastle can be pleased with their work. Should City be frustrated? Perhaps, but only that they didn’t claim three points, not because they deserved to take the win and did not. A draw feels fair. Not a terrible result for City given the balance of play there. 
This would be a hard-earned and fair point for Newcastle United. 
City upping the pressure. Not quite like it was against Arsenal last week. Haaland wastes another header. A difficult one to get any power onto it with it being behind him. It’s an easy save for Pope. 
Great save by Pope! Foden pops the ball up to Bernardo Silva, who chests it superbly on the edge of the box and swivel-volleys with power and Pope sticks out a left hand to tip it over!
WHAT AN INCREDIBLE SAVE FROM NICK POPE! 😱📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/KXNZcBxzqB
City corner…
Gordon is fouled by Ruben Dias, who stops a dangerous counter by sliding in very late and getting nowhere near the ball. He is booked and rightly so. 
Can anyone win this? Yes. Will anyone win this?
Newcastle have had to a bit more defending in the last 15 minutes. They break on the counter but Savinho is there to pick up the ball before a black and white shirt can get a shot away. 
Seven minutes of added time on the way…
On balance I think Newcastle have shaded this one. Maybe a bit more than that. Were probably just about the better side in the first-half before the goal and have been ahead of City in this half too. Doesn’t mean they will get anything from the game, though…
Silva picks up a loose ball and charges through the midfield. He puts in Haaland on the left of the box but it’s just too wide for him to really do anything useful with it. Silva fouls on the Newcastle byline and the hosts get a bit of pressure relieved. This has been a great game, a great battle. A little bit of needle and plenty of fight from both sides. I think there is another goal in this game. 
Ederson is again closed down by Gordon but just about manages to get his clearance away, via Gordon on the way out. Schar, who has been booked already, tugs on Grealish’s shirt and gives away a free-kick on the left wing seven or eight yards outside of the box. 
Longstaff is on and nearly puts Newcastle ahead with his first touch! A ball comes in from the right, cut back to him in space in the box but he drags it wide by a few feet. 
Lewis and Grealish off for City. Doku and Savinho on. 
A triple substitution for Newcastle. 
OFF: Barnes, Tonali, TrippierON: Willock, Longstaff, Livramento
Grealish sends in a sharp cross from the left. Haaland is at the far post but heads over and wide. A hard one to direct on target given the speed but he is a man who deals in goals and lots of them. Should have done better. 
A furrowed brow for Pep Guardiola but, in fairness, he often looks like that. Thoughtful. 
A bit of action on the other bench as it looks like Longstaff is coming on for the hosts and possibly one other change. 
A lovely bit of skill from Haaland who takes a touch from a Newcastle header in the box and then deftly lays it off to Foden who has a snap shot, but Pope is there to save. 
Haaland is played in, well, he nearly is but Nick Pope is alert to the danger and gets the ball and then the man to see off the danger. Haaland goes down but does not make a fuss about it. Punched the ball first. 
Anthony Gordon has won seven penalties in the Premier League since the beginning of last season – at least four more than any other player during that time #NEWMCI pic.twitter.com/fA733mCnQ5
Are Newcastle bossing this half? I think you can make a strong case for it. You do feel City will manage to create another chance, though, somewhere, somehow. 
A bit of respite for City as they have the ball in the final third and try to patiently create an opening. Grealish tries to beat Trippier but is tackled. And worse, it goes behind for goal kick, not a corner. 
Joelinton has also picked up a booking as the game is becoming increasingly tempestuous. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for Manchester City, who are weathering some intense pressure from the home side. 
“Newcastle, led by Kieran Trippier, had been trying to inject some pace into the game. Man City, having complained about Arsenal constantly slowing the game down last weekend, have been using every trick in the book to make this a stop start game that suits them.
“And City have ended up paying the price as a lovely through ball from Bruno finds the run of Anthony Gordon, who draws the foul from Ederson and then buries the spot kick.
“That has woken St James’ Park up and the noise is incredible.”
Grealish and Tonali both booked for the off-the-ball scuffle. 
Another big shout for a penalty as Joelinton picks the ball up in the box. This time by a defender, not Ederson. It was a nod down but his first touch was not enough to keep it at his feet. It’s waved away but Newcastle come away. Tonali and Grealish involved in yet more aggro off the ball… 
Newcastle really pushing now and the fans at St James’ Park are roaring their team towards the goal. 
He sends Ederson the wrong way and Newcastle United are level! Hard and low to the keeper’s right. 
Anthony Gordon equalises for Newcastle from the spot! 🎯Listen to the ROAR of St. James’ Park 🔊📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/oHYEovZts5
Newcastle 1 Man City 1
Penalty appeal from Newcastle and penalty given to Newcastle! Joelinton sends Gordon through with a wonderful ball. Gordon collects and bursts into the box. Ederson goes down to try and claim the ball but, the referee believes, takes Gordon down unlawfully. 
Not sure about that. Gordon is onside and there was some contact there but he 1,000 per cent looked for that. Ederson is booked. 
Fabian Schar from deep, a long ball through the midfield along the ground. Gordon tries to chase it but Akanji is the disruptor and the potential attack is snuffed out. 
Grealish is caught elbowing Sandro Tonali as part of a City attack. It’s a dig in the ribs rather than anything truly gruesome but he should surely be booked for that. VAR are going to take a look, I think. No further action as far as I can tell. 
Ally McCoist on TNT Sports is having none of it. 
Bernardo Silva drives forward towards the Newcastle box and tries to find Jack Grealish on the left but instead it hits Gundogan, much to his frustration. 
City start the half on the front foot. 
The second-half is under way. Can Newcastle find a way back into this game? Well, at 1-0 they are still in it but still. 
But did not have the time, which meant he ended up playing with two different styles of boots. 
Hard to say if it had any influence on the goal. You would assume that there was some kind of difference in the studs, but impossible to know right now. 
🔎 Have you spotted Kieran Trippier wearing two different types of boots against Man City? #NEWMCI pic.twitter.com/cPyYd0nkG3
A ball flicked on by Dan Burn finds Joelinton who snap-shoots with his left boot and it is well saved by Ederson. The move comes again and ends in a Newcastle corner, which comes to nothing. And that will be half-time. City on the up after their goal though a good chance for Newcastle at the end of the first 45. 
Looks like Haaland has picked up an injury/knock/scrape in that battle with Dan Burn earlier in the half. 
Grealish finds Gundogan who plays Haaland through on his own superbly, between two defenders. He cannot pick the ball up (a poor touch, really) but then the ball is given away by Newcastle on the edge of the box. This time Gundogan cannot find Haaland, overhitting what should have been a simple pass to The Big Norwegian. 
Another chance for City as Newcastle get in a muddle in the middle. Pope comes to pick up a loose ball from the other end and controls it well but passes it straight to Gundogan, who has Haaland to his left. He dribbles it forward before taking a weak shot in an attempt to lob the backpedalling keeper. Maybe the pass, or hitting it earlier, would have been the better option. Didn’t quite manage to free his feet quickly enough. 
As my colleague Luke Edwards pointed out, City do tend to grind teams down. Has that happened here? First-half might be a bit early for a true grinding down but, yeah. 
“Only Jack Grealish will know if the ‘heavy’ touch was a deliberate ploy or not but it drew Kieran Trippier in to try and win the ball on the right touchline. Grealish superbly nicked it away from the Newcastle right back and that opened up the defence. Gvardiol still had plenty to do but it was a lovely piece of skill from Grealish. Being dropped by England in the summer seems to have lit a fire under him again.”
Gvardiol puts City ahead!
Excellent play from Grealish on the left, evading his man and he then plays an inch-perfect pass to Gvardiol in the box. He takes a wonderful first touch, then another to square himself up and beat Dan Burn. He then shoots with his right through the legs of Tonali with a slight deflection and into the side-netting of the far post. Keeper was flat-footed but could do nothing about it. 
Brilliant work from Jack Grealish, even better work from Joško Gvardiol 🎯The defender gives Man City the lead ✨📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/fZ0SaRQDLC
Newcastle 0 Man City 1
City just not getting much joy in the final third, though overall you would say it has been a pretty equal game so far. 
“Eddie Howe will be pleased with how the game has gone so far. The home side have looked very compact in midfield – not something we have been able to say very often – and City are finding it very hard to cut through them.
“The hosts have also looked dangerous and have shown they can get runners in behind the opposition defence. Jacob Murphy has twice got into promising positions down the right flank and wasted them. As has Kieran Trippier, It is giving Gvardiol a headache in this first half.
“So far, you would have to say City are missing Rodri’s power and athleticism in midfield and the defence looks like it can be got at with quick balls forward.
“City, though, tend to grind teams down and Newcastle need to get their noses in front to make this game plan a really effective one.”
Haaland sneaking in at the far post after a ball in from Bernardo Silva but Trippier is, crucially, there to put it behind for a corner. Moments earlier Haaland had just shoved, legally, Dan Burn to the floor when challenging for the ball. No mean feat. 
Haaland lays it off to Bernardo Silva who finds Gundogan just inside the box in space. It’s just behind him but in any case he scuffs the shot. Could he have taken a touch? The pass was more at fault than the shot, really. City’s first shot for a while. 
A Newcastle corner is headed on by Haaland and then behind by Grealish, though I am not sure he knew much about it. Newcastle looking decent here and perhaps the more likely side to score. Schar fouls Grealish again and gets a booking for it. Nothing awful but just a clumsy challenge as the City player tried to dance through the midfield. It came after the pair had another tussle on the touchline (below) a few moments earlier. 
Ederson charged down by Gordon again, this time in the box. His touch is a little less flamboyant and he evades any danger. 
Joelinton fouls Grealish and City have a free-kick about 40-odd yards out on the left-hand side. A certain free-kick and an easy one for the referee to award. 
Joelinton heads the ball in from Silva way but the referee awards a Newcastle free-kick. 
Newcastle looking the more dangerous at the moment, with more of the territory and possession in the last six or seven minutes. 
A couple of weak headers from Joelinton at the corner and Ederson claims easily and cleanly. 
Newcastle waste an attack. Gordon gets the ball about 12 yards in front of the penalty box. He lays it off to Harvey Barnes but his ball to Joelinton on the left of the box forces him wide and the attack loses impetus before Trippier has a shot deflected behind for a corner. 
Murphy in space again on the right but his cross, with Newcastle men waiting in the middle is poor and is blocked easily back to Ederson. 
Ederson showboating? Well, a stepover and a backheel when he has the ball well outside of his penalty box with Gordon chasing him down. Risky but it was fine in the end. 
Newcastle with a couple of threatening looking moves so far, both coming with long balls over the top. No shots yet, though. Not stereotypical Route One football but down the wings. Murphy with a decent cross from the right but it cannot find a black and white shirt. 
City with the ball in Newcastle’s final third, just knocking it around really. Akanji ends the move with a side-footed shot from about 20 yards out. It’s not far away but is deflected behind for a corner. 
Gvardiol has to defend a long ball over the top to Trippier on the right of the box and just about does his job, with the ball finding its way back to Ederson in the goal. A dangerous-looking moment, though. 
We are under way at St James’ Park. Rico Lewis is fouled defending his own box by Bruno Guimaraes. 
“It is going to be fascinating to see how Man City cope without their most important midfield player Rodri for the first time since the Spain international was ruled out for the season with a knee injury.
“It looks like Rico Lewis will play in midfield instead and this will be a tough test for Pep Guardiola’s side.
“Newcastle are without their star striker Alexander Isak but they welcome Sandro Tonali back into midfield for his first Premier League start for more than 10 months.
“Newcastle have caused problems for this fixture before and can do so again.”
Predictions? 3-1 City for me. 
The Norwegian has 10 in five games so far, five more than the next best player. 
On Tonali’s first start for nearly a year: 
“Sandro has come back from his ban in a really good place and trained really well. When he has played and come on he has done well. Naturally, after a disappointing result last week we have changed some players and hope to see a response.”
On Isak missing out through a broken toe:
 “We knew it all depended on the pain. Could he tolerate the pain he felt and he felt fine against Fulham until the last 10 minutes. He didn’t feel right to play.”
Whether the current line-up going forwards to replace Rodri will be the one going forward. 
“I don’t know. Today, yes but tomorrow I don’t know. It depends what’s going on.”
Whether they have to fight together now Rodri is out:
“We have to. We have to. That is why when you use the word team it means that. We have to do it as a team. 
“Of course, we are sad like Oscar has been three or four months out we are sad as well. We have spent a lot of time together… the situation with Rodri happened, we are sad of course.”
On Newcastle:
“They are start so strong… they lost the last game against Fulham because Fulham is always tough and it is not easy to play there. I saw the game and Fulham was really good but Newcastle was not far away from that. St James’ Park and a special team. Already many years with Eddie so they know what they have to do… tough.”
On ‘war’ and whether it is a siege mentality at City now: 
“We have done it seven years. Come on. Otherwise we don’t have what we achieve. Absolutely not.”
Fair to say he has been influential for Man City in his time there…
A win for Newcastle would draw them level on points with City…
He was asked about a new contract initially, then about his relationship with the fans:
“It’s close. I am really excited. I will focus on that when it comes to it but I am really excited about today and just want to focus on that today.”
“I have got great relationship with the fans here because my style resonates with them. It is a working-class city and they want to see you trying. I am proud of myself for doing that.
“It doesn’t matter to me where I am going to play. The game is about moments so it’s about handling moments when they come to me. If that’s left-wing right-wing, or sticker.”
Starting XI: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Burn, Hall; Joelinton, Guimaraes, Tonali; Gordon, Murphy, BarnesSubs: Dubravka, Krafth, Osula, Livramento, Almiron, Kelly, Willock, Longstaff. Murphy
Starting XI: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Lewis, Gundogan; Silva, Haaland, GrealishSubs: Ortega, Carson, Stones, Doku, Savinho, Nunes, Foden, McAtee
Welcome to our coverage for the early Premier League game between Newcastle United and Manchester City from St James’ Park. City have a chance to extend their lead over the rest of the table to four points but, really, what does that mean at this stage of the season? Very little. 
Plenty of the talk in the last day or so has been about the ‘war’ that has apparently been declared between Manchester City and Arsenal, who played a thrilling and tempestuous 2-2 draw last Sunday.
There has been an awful lot of bluster from both Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta about it and the events of the game last weekend. Really, though, what exactly does ‘war’ between the two sides look like when they only play each other once more in this league campaign and that is in four months’ time? You could argue that it is pretty meaningless. 
The real ‘war’ is the accumulation of the points totals in the next 33 games both sides have. And for City that starts with a trip to Eddie Howe’s Newcastle this afternoon. Newcastle come into this game off the back of their first league defeat of the season away to Fulham. That defeat. Telegraph Sport’s Luke Edwards wrote, was perhaps coming. 
“They have not been playing well but have kept grinding out results. That cannot last and this time Fulham punished their mistakes,” he wrote in his match report. “This, though, was the worst performance so far. They were terrible in the first half in particular. Blunt in attack, leaky at the back and largely non-existent in midfield.”
So, an improvement is needed then despite 10 points from their five games so far. Is this game against City a free hit? Not quite, really as it’s at home. City will obviously want to – and most likely will – bounce back from dropping points against Arsenal last time out and, whilst there was talk of the league being already a foregone conclusion a couple of weeks ago, it is one football game and every result is possible. 
A big loss for City will be Rodri, who was injured in that game at the Emirates on Sunday. He has now been confirmed as out for the rest of the season. How big a loss we will find out over the next few months. I suspect that City will probably be able to absorb his loss without too much damage to their title hopes, however good he is. That said, the stats bear out that they would much rather have him than not, with a win percentage of nine points better with him in the side.
Anyway, we get under way at 12.30pm and we will have the team news for you very shortly indeed.