Our 3️⃣ points after Newcastle hold Man City in sensational clash | OneFootball

Newcastle and Manchester City played out the game of the Premier League season so far in a thrilling 3-3 draw at St.James’ Park.

Here is what we made of it.

Barclays thriller

What. a. game.

When Ilkay Gündogan fired Man City ahead after five minutes the overriding expectation would be that this game would likely turn into another procession with the champions easing to a comprehensive victory.

Newcastle supporters would’ve shrugged in despair, City fans would’ve sat back in comfort and the watching Liverpool contingent may have turned their TVs off as hopes of watching their title rivals drop points were dashed early on yet again.

But what unfolded was not just one of the greatest matches of this season (we’re only three games in) but one that probably ranks first out of the last two of three campaigns.

There were a number of remarkable individual performances from the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin, Joelinton, Nick Pope, Bernardo Silva and Rodri.

We might have witnessed the pass of the season from Kevin De Bruyne for City’s third goal.

There was the type of camera-shaking, raucuous atmosphere from the home crowd which leaves the hair on the back of your neck standing in applause after Newcastle’s third goal.

That was mixed with the silence and faint roar from the travelling support after the comeback from the visitors.

Two teams that showed their quality regularly but still had to the ability to make mistakes on occasion. We even had two uses of VAR overturning a referee’s decision.

The perfect recipe for a classic. If they still made ‘Premier League Greatest Games’ DVDs, this would go right on it.

The Sky Blueprint

Have Newcastle showed the way to get at Manchester City today?

The majority of teams that come up against Pep Guardiola’s side do so with one thing in mind: damage limitation.

The opposition will set up with players behind the ball, looking to frustrate City but almost wanting to shake hands on a 2-0 defeat before the game even kicks off.

Eddie Howe went with a completely different game plan today, he attacked the champions.

The Magpies pressed high, the midfield battle between Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton against Rodri and De Bruyne was compelling, while the plan to get the ball frequently to their attacking players in Saint-Maximin and Almirón provided some joy.

City looked taken aback by a team taking this approach, particularly in the first half.

But Guardiola’s men aren’t just champions because of their remarkable footballing ability, they have the mentality to match and the comeback in the second half deserves as much credit as they get in their comfortable, goal-getting victories.

Newcastle didn’t win in the end but they showed the other 18 teams in this division that there is a way to get at City.

He’s a Saint

On a day full of stunning individual performance, Allan Saint-Maximin might just have been the standout.

The type of player who you would expect to see on a ‘streets won’t forget XI’ listing in 2032.

For the most part of Saint-Maximin’s career he has fulfilled the criteria for that tag, the type of mercurial player with an abundance of talent but for whatever reason never effects games, or enough of them, on a consistent basis.

More capable of tricks, turns and glamour than numbers.

Today he was everything, and more.

Every time the ball landed at his feet it appeared that something would happen and more often than not something did – much to Kyle Walker’s dismay.

His perfect cross was fumbled home by Miguel Almirón for the first goal before he had the composure to thread the ball through to Callum Wilson for the second.

That came in the first half but the problem with the 25-year-old has been producing a solid performance over 90 minutes.

There was no such problem today as he was right back at it again after the break, winning the free-kick for Kieran Trippier’s goal.

He completed three out of his five dribbles, created four chances and has caught the eye of someone somewhere in the world today watching football for the first time beginning a life-long love affair with Newcastle United.