Will life without Rodri still be as complicated for the Skyblues? For its first match without its Spanish midfielder, heavily injured (rupture of the cruciate ligament in the right knee) and absent until the end of the season, Manchester City finally conceded a draw (1-1) against an opponent energetic. Newcastle first managed to impose its tempo on the Cityzens. Dominant during the first 20 minutes, Eddie Howe’s men proved dangerous on several occasions. Kieran Trippier, who received a good pass from outside the area, launched a shot, but was blocked by a defender (15th). A little later, Jacob Murphy made a nice breakthrough into the Mancunian half, but an opposing defender narrowly interrupted his effort, preventing him from completing his action (25th).
Under constant pressure, Manchester City failed to develop their game for much of the first half. Erling Haaland, well taken by Dan Burn, was difficult to find for a long time. But it only took a small mistake from Newcastle to let City take the lead. After making the difference on his side, Jack Grealish delivered a nice pass to Josko Gvardiol in the area. The Croatian international managed a hook on Dan Burn before sending the ball into the right corner of the goal (36th, 0-1). In the tough, Newcastle managed to recover a few moments before the end of the period, notably with a big dry strike from Joelinton in the area (45th + 2), stopped by the goalkeeper.
The Cityzens surprised by the Magpies
Returning from the locker room, Pep Guardiola’s men showed themselves in a better light for only a few minutes, before suffering a severe setback. After a foul by Ederson, which caused an opposing attacker to fall, the match referee logically whistled a penalty. Anthony Gordon deceived the Citizen goalkeeper by propelling his penalty inside the left post (57th, 1-1), and thus allowed his team to come back to the score before the hour mark. In the 73rd minute of play , Haaland believed he could finally make the break. On a poor recovery in the Newcastle axis, the Norwegian intercepted the ball and served Phil Foden, who however did not manage to finish with a powerful but axial strike.
At the end of the match, it was Bernardo Silva who had the opportunity to go ahead with a nice shot (92nd). Careful, Nick Pope made a superb save and prevented City from getting back in front. This result allows the host of the match to move up to 5th place in the Championship with 11 points at the end of the day. For its part, Manchester City remains leader of the Premier League, but sees its lead reduced. Liverpool, who are one game behind, are only 2 points behind the Skyblues.
