Rodri’s absence was always going to knock Manchester City off-kilter, but Newcastle United knew that Saturday’s Premier League fixture was still going to be one of the toughest of the campaign.
But Newcastle played with assurance and gusto and claimed a hard-fought draw, rallying after falling behind in the first half to restore parity through Anthony Gordon‘s penalty and cranking up late pressure that unfortunately came to nought.
Eddie Howe will be delighted with many of the performances on show at St. James’ Park, with the goalscorer doing extremely well in the absence of the injured Alexander Isak.
Anthony Gordon proves his worth vs Man City
Isak was ruled out with a toe injury to compound his frustrating start to the season, but Gordon is a dynamic forward and moonlit in a focal striking role on occasion, so he was tasked with the occasion against the indomitable champions today.
He certainly didn’t produce the greatest performance in the world, but Gordon did well against titanic opposition, winning and converting the second-half penalty to make it 11 points from six contests – only three behind Pep Guardiola’s side.
A real menace of a player, the England international has now won seven penalties in the Premier League since the start of last season, the most in the division – Raheem Sterling is second with three.
He also completed two key passes and won four duels, as per Sofascore, but his spot kick was the sole shot of his afternoon and you can’t help but think Isak, fit and available, might have offered that predatory sense that could have won the hosts the game.
Of course, with Rodri out of action, Bruno Guimaraes was able to showcase his quality and dominate from the centre of the park. He was Howe’s real hero.
Bruno Guimaraes was Howe’s real hero
Guimaraes was at fault for Fulham’s third goal at Craven Cottage last weekend to condemn the Toon to their first defeat of the campaign, but he made amends today with a fine display against a City side that needed to bounce back after drawing with Arsenal one week ago.
The Shields Gazette were gushing in their review of the Brazilian’s performance, handing him an 8/10 match rating and writing: ‘Imposed himself well against a strong City midfield. Had some good moments on the ball and played Gordon through. A good response to a difficult match late time out at Fulham.’
City might have been missing Rodri but let’s not forget that they still boast some of the best midfielders in the world. Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis were strong and City actually won 55% of the game’s ground duels.
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Bruno Guimaraes: Stats vs Manchester City |
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|---|---|
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Match Stats |
# |
|
Minutes played |
90′ |
|
Touches |
64 |
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Accurate passes |
35/43 |
|
Key passes |
1 |
|
Dribbles (completed) |
4 (4) |
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Tackles |
3 |
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Interceptions |
2 |
|
Clearances |
1 |
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Total duels (won) |
17 (9) |
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Stats via Sofascore |
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Most of Newcastle’s success in combative situations seemed to have come from Guimaraes, who, as you can see, won a ridiculous amount of duels and stood like an iron wall against City’s attempted onslaughts that never really materialised. There was also silk to match the steel as he successfully completed all four of his attempted dribbles.
Newcastle will look at forthcoming Premier League fixtures against Everton and Brighton & Hove Albion with sights set on victory, but this was an excellent performance against the best team in the country, with signs aplenty that the Magpies are starting to click into gear.
