The match at St James Park deserved to be the best of the season, as all five goals could be considered masterpieces, not to mention the controversial situations.
Newcastle led 2-1 with two goals within two minutes, but the outcome of the match changed when De Bruyne entered the field. The Belgian star only took five minutes to equalize, before he assisted 21-year-old midfielder Oscar Bobb to seal a 3-2 victory for the defending champions in second half stoppage time.
The match was exciting right from the start, when midfielder Sean Longstaff put the ball into Man City’s net but the goal was disallowed because of offside. Because the referee raised the flag too late, goalkeeper Ederson bumped into his opponent while rushing out to compete and was injured. After about five minutes on the field, the Brazilian goalkeeper could not continue playing and had to leave the field to give his position to Stefan Ortega. Photos show that Ederson suffered a deep laceration on his thigh.
Despite missing Erling Haaland due to injury and Kevin de Bruyne on the bench, Man City still opened the scoring with Bernardo Silva’s masterpiece. From Kyle Walker’s cross on the right, the ball slightly hit Silva’s back as he rushed in, but the Portuguese midfielder still pulled his right heel to the far corner and rolled the ball into the net, surprising goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Phil Foden placed his hands on his head and looked at Silva with admiration. While the away team was celebrating the goal, home defender Dan Burn rushed in and blamed the opponent for not kicking the ball out of bounds when midfielder Anthony Gordon was lying on the field. However, it’s hard to blame Man City, because Gordon was lying in pain on the sidelines, so the doctors could take care of him immediately without having to go on the field. Because this midfielder was in pain, he could not pull back in time to prevent Walker from assisting Man City’s goal.
Just 54 seconds after Newcastle handed the ball back, defender Kieran Trippier missed a dangerous pass at home, allowing Silva to shoot one-touch in the penalty area. However, Dubravka corrected his teammate’s mistake with a flying push and the ball hit the crossbar and bounced off.
Newcastle regained their spirit after that situation, gradually putting pressure on the away team’s defense to make mistakes. In the 35th minute, midfielder Bruno Guimaraes made a one-touch pass from home field behind Man City’s high defense, allowing striker Alexander Isak to rush down. The Swedish striker adjusted the ball to his right foot at the edge of the penalty area, then curled it to the far corner, not giving Ortega a chance to block.
Two minutes later, it was centre-back Ruben Dias’s turn to blame for a poor pass in front of the goal, allowing Gordon to receive the ball on the left border. The midfielder turned the ball to his right foot and then curled the ball back to the exact spot where Isak had scored before, and the Man City goalkeeper still couldn’t save the goal.
Newcastle continued to apply pressure and even played tricks that made the Man City players unable to keep their composure. In the fourth minute of extra time in the first half, Guimaraes had received a yellow card earlier, still stepping on Rodri’s shoe and the referee gave Man City the advantage. Rodri then blocked Guimaraes without the ball, only to receive a yellow card. However, referee Chris Kavanagh did not show the Newcastle midfielder a card, causing coach Pep Guardiola to loudly complain to the referee.
Mr. Kavanagh continued to make Rodri angry in the 52nd minute, when he dribbled the ball close to the goal but was tripped by Burn. The referee did not give the home defender a yellow card, causing Rodri and Guardiola to get angry and react. Three minutes later, Bernardo Silva fouled midfielder Fabian Schar in the same way but near midfield, this time the referee showed him a card. Outside the field, Guardiola held his head in disbelief at what was happening.
Silva was the most prominent player in Man City, but he was replaced in the 69th minute. But Guardiola showed why he is the best coach with this decision. Five minutes after entering the field, De Bruyne received the ball in the middle, pushed twice and then shot a long shot through Schar’s legs towards the post, surprising Dubravka and not having time to save. This is the 33-year-old midfielder’s first goal this season, because he was absent in the first half of the season due to injury.
From the moment De Bruyne entered the field, the situation reversed. Newcastle did not create any dangerous opportunities, while Man City played on the field, calmly passing the ball and waiting for the opportunity. In the first minute of extra time in the second half, De Bruyne received the ball in the middle, hung it to the second post for Bobb to dive past Trippier, then turned the ball from his left foot to his right foot to eliminate goalkeeper Dubravka, before scoring it into an empty net.
De Bruyne and Bobb stand out, but Guardiola’s talent in using troops cannot be denied. Bobb came on to replace Jeremy Doku in the 82nd minute, although Jack Grealish remained on the bench. The young midfielder did not disappoint his teacher when he shined and scored his first goal in the Premier League.
Man City has won all six recent matches in all competitions, only two points away from Liverpool’s top position. In the next match, they will be away at Tottenham’s field in the fourth round of the FA Cup on the evening of January 26.