With confidence high after comprehensively defeating bitter rivals Sunderland last weekend, Newcastle United welcomed Manchester City to the northeast on Saturday. Unbeaten since a slender loss to Aston Villa on December 6, Pep Guardiola’s side would look to close the gap to the top of the table to just two points with a win.
NEW: Dubravka; Burn, Botman, Schär, Trippier; Longstaff, Guimarães, Miley; Gordon, Isak, Almirón
MCI: Ederson; Gvardiol, Aké, Dias, Walker; Kovacic, Rodri; Doku, Silva, Foden; Álvarez
Manchester City looked to be storming to a routine win when Bernardo Silva put the reigning champions ahead just before the half-hour mark, slamming Kyle Walker’s delivery past Martin Dubravka with a stunning backheel.
But their lead would last less than ten minutes, with Alexander Isak latching onto a superb pass from Bruno Guimarães before smashing an effort past Stefan Ortega, who had been called upon to replace the injured Ederson.
Embed from Getty ImagesMere moments had passed before Newcastle United had completed their comeback, with Anthony Gordon taking advantage of questionable defending from Kieran Trippier to curl an effort into the far corner and seize the lead for the first time in the match.
Plagued with injuries since June’s UEFA Champions League Final, Kevin de Bruyne played an influential role in masterminding a Manchester City victory though – restoring parity after just four minutes on the field as he swept a strike into the far corner.
The Belgian would then go on to assist the young Oscar Bobb for the winner in stoppage time, with the goalscorer displaying fancy footwork before tapping into an open goal to cue euphoric celebrations amongst the home fans.
Embed from Getty ImagesManchester City move to within two points of Liverpool at the helm of the Premier League table, while their attention now turns to an FA Cup Fourth Round tie against Tottenham Hotspur on January 26.
As for Newcastle, they now barely remain inside the top half of the table – and will view their FA Cup tie at Craven Cottage as a welcome preparation for the trip to Villa Park that will follow just three days later.
