Match Report and Player Ratings: Newcastle United 1-1 Manchester City (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City were held to a second successive draw in the Premier League by Newcastle at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon in a hard-fought and occasionally feisty encounter.

A fairly even first half ended with the teams separated by a moment of brilliance from Manchester City’s left flank, with Jack Grealish finding Josko Gvardiol in the Newcastle box and the defender showed striker’s instincts to make space and score.

But the one-goal lead was never going to be enough and Newcastle United’s star forward Anthony Gordon’s second-half penalty was enough to ensure the points were shared on the Tyneside.

A predictably raucous St James’ Park led to a fired-up start, with heavy early challenges from Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes setting the tone before Manuel Akanji, operating in that role moving into midfield from the defence, had the game’s first shot deflected wide.

Newcastle’s pressing kept City on their toes, and that applied to the Blues’ entire team – Gordon’s harrying of Ederson led to the Brazilian producing an audacious back-heel to to evade the pressure, with the TV cameras quickly picking out Pep Guardiola’s rather disapproving expression at his goalkeeper’s antics.

The hosts were probably the team on top in the opening half hour, but Manchester City were still a threat, and were left with their heads in their hands when a combination of a slightly under-hit pass from Bernardo Silva and a slight tangle of the legs from Ilkay Gundogan wasted a shooting chance on the edge of the box.

The warning signs were there for the Magpies, but they were powerless to stop a goal which came from City’s sheer class. Grealish was a menace to Kieran Trippier in the first half and he beat him again, playing an accurate ball to Gvardiol in the left half-space, with the Croatian dropping the shoulder beautifully to get away from Dan Burn and slotting past Nick Pope with his weak foot.

City were on top then, and forced a mistake from Pope thanks to Erling Haaland’s pressure, but Gundogan was caught in two minds whether to lift it over the retreating goalkeeper or play his striker in, and eventually took his shot on too late.

It was Newcastle that ended the half on top though, with Ederson called upon to beat away Joelinton’s effort and then Kyle Walker, who excelled in the first half, producing a great block from Jacob Murphy.

But it was those two who combined to allow Newcastle a penalty ten minutes into the second half; Walker played Gordon onside as he ran in, Ederson brought him down then couldn’t stop the Englishman’s spot-kick.

Some end-to-end action followed as the match crossed the hour mark, and City’s clearest sight of goal came when Haaland plucked the ball out of the sky in the area and found Phil Foden, but the substitute couldn’t put his half-volley anywhere other than where Pope was standing.

Newcastle were beginning to sit back and City pushed, creating another opportunity when Grealish lashed a bouncing ball across the face, too hard as it turned out because Haaland couldn’t control the header to keep it down.

The long balls were still a danger though, as the hosts seized on a bouncing ball to work the ball to the edge, where newly-introduced Sean Longstaff was perhaps a little too fresh and dragged his shot wide.

It looked like it was ticking down to a draw, although City fans were almost celebrating a late winner on two occasions, as Bernardo Silva swivelled and crashed towards goal then later Haaland connected with a Savinho cross, only for Pope to stop both attempts.

There were no late heroics this time from the Blues, and it’s two straight draws in the Premier League for Pep Guardiola’s men, but we might not look back on this one as the worst point, and it’s fair to say that Newcastle did their part in a good game.

Next up for Manchester City are Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia on matchday two of the league phase in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night. Here’s how we rated the players as City shared the spoils with Newcastle at St James’ Park!

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Ederson – 6.5

Poor judgement in bringing Anthony Gordon down for Newcastle’s penalty. Otherwise, made sure not to flap when coming for crosses and had a routine save from Joelinton.

Kyle Walker – 7

Didn’t put a defensive foot wrong in the first half, but got his line wrong to play Anthony Gordon onside for the penalty. First 45 was better than the second from the captain.

Ruben Dias – 7.5

Not the physical battle he usually relishes as he was up against Anthony Gordon, but didn’t make any slip-ups and was fine in possession. Took a very good yellow to stop a break near the end.

Josko Gvardiol – 8 (MOTM)

Actually struggled to deal with the movement in behind him for much of the opening 45 minutes, but had the class when it mattered to break the deadlock and improved hugely thereafter.

Manuel Akanji – 7.5

Had the versatility to support the attack by pushing into supplementary midfield zones, whilst also covering any balls in behind with superb athleticism and anticipation.

Mateo Kovacic – 7

Some nice work dropping deep to control things, but was caught in transition at times and will need to do better in that regard in Rodri’s absense.

Rico Lewis – 7.5

Nothing too flashy but knew exactly when to hold and when to release under pressure; natural midfield performance.

Ilkay Gundogan – 5

Hasn’t hit his stride yet since his return and looked off the pace today to put it kindly. Correct decision to bring him off from Pep Guardiola.

Bernardo Silva – 7

Caused problems coming in off the right flank and ran as willingly as ever. Couldn’t quite produce a decisive final pass.

Erling Haaland – 6.5

Occupied the defenders quite well, although his holdup play and passing wasn’t as sharp as it has been of late. No proper chances to speak of.

Jack Grealish – 8

Aggravated the home crowd as he usually does, but a large part of the Toon ire was because Manchester City’s no.10 was playing well and mostly had the beating of Kieran Trippier. Fought extremely hard and set up the goal, but was maybe getting a little het up towards the end so was brought off.

Substitutes

Phil Foden – 7

Good to see him inject more spark than he has in prior cameos this season. Looked lively.

Savinho – 6.5

Superb tracking back to stop a Newcastle break was his highlight.

Jeremy Doku – 5.5

Got nothing from Tino Livramento.