Manchester City 1-0 Newcastle United: Dominic Scurr verdict

Dominic Scurr reflects as Newcastle United were beaten 1-0 against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Transcript

00:00 Manchester City 1 Newcastle United 0 here at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.

00:05 Julian Alvarez's first half strike, the difference between the two sides and same old story for

00:11 Newcastle in the respect that they've lost the 15th consecutive Premier League game here

00:15 at the Etihad. But the overriding feeling is one more of disappointment. A 1-0 defeat

00:21 a few years ago would have been seen almost like a positive because they've kept the goal

00:27 difference down. They haven't opened the floodgates for Man City as they have done so many times

00:31 here in the past. But we know based on what we saw tonight, Newcastle can be so much better

00:37 than that. Eddie Howe knows that they just didn't really lay a glove on Man City. They

00:41 had one shot on target, Harvey Barnes, 70th minute, easy save for Edison to make. And

00:47 they just weren't at the best. We saw them at the best against Aston Villa last weekend

00:52 and we just didn't really see that today. They were never out the game as such but they

00:57 were never really in the game until the closing stages where Man City, who played in Greece

01:03 in the Super Cup just a few days earlier, started to tire a little bit. A disappointing

01:10 day because Newcastle in the past would have just rolled over and they've come so far since

01:21 those days. The top four side now, Pep Guardiola was talking about how exceptional Newcastle

01:26 were and how tough opponents they were. But today, they just weren't quite there. There

01:35 wasn't quite that killer instinct that we saw against Villa last weekend. I thought

01:39 if you want positives to take, as little as the midfield covered the defence, I thought

01:45 oh, all the midfielders, probably Elliot Anderson who came on, didn't have the best games at

01:50 all. But I thought the defence, Sven Bolltman, Fabian Scheer, Kieran Trippier in particular

01:57 all had solid games. Erling Haaland was kept relatively quiet I'd say. He did have a few

02:02 good chances on another day, a more clinical Erling Haaland. Could have had a couple of

02:08 goals, even a hat-trick maybe. But he was kept just about at bay by Newcastle centre-backs.

02:16 All in all, we're coming away from that with a familiar feeling but almost an unusual one

02:21 where we're disappointed and we thought Newcastle could have gave more today. But it's only

02:28 the second game at the Ad Stadium, only one of the few places Newcastle lost that last

02:33 season so we'll move on quickly. Liverpool next week, the tough start doesn't get any

02:39 easier. But you wouldn't back against Newcastle, there was a lot of positivity going into this

02:46 game. Unfortunately it didn't transpire on the pitch but Eddie Howe said lots to learn

02:50 from today and lots to build on and hopefully we'll see that back at St James's Park next