Newcastle United - Manchester City summary: score, goals, highlights, Premier League

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Joe

Full-time thoughts:

De Bruyne is back, and so are the City smiles. That was the best 20 minutes from any single player this season. 

The Belgian wizard completely changed the game for City, scoring the equaliser before setting up the winner in his first Premier League appearance of the season.

The first half was a crazy affair, with Newcastle going ahead with two quick-fire goals from Isak and Gordon coming after a sensationalSilva flick to put the away side in front.

The second half saw Newcastle go on the defensive as City pushed back.

The away team pressed hard and created countless chances that were saved or blocked. The change in the game came with the substitute: De Bruyne entered the pitch and completely altered how City approached the final stages. He drove the team forward and aided all across the pitch, scoring the equaliser and setting up the winner. 

The win puts City above Villa and into second, two points off the top.

FULL-TIME!

MANCHESTER CITY TAKE ALL THREE POINTS

We're back underway and immediately Newcastle go up the other end and want a penalty for handball. Nothing given.

It's stunning: De Bruyne sends a wonderful ball over the top to Bobb, who cuts in from the left.

He brings it down and skips past Dúbravka before sliding into an empty net. What a sensational goal.

3 added minutes.

Groans from those in blue as Gvardiol's touch is too heavy and allows the defender to step in on the edge of the box and take the ball away. 

We're still waiting for Dúbravka to remember where the free-kick is to be taken...

City are furious as De Bruyne is penalised for a foul in his own half. They're not going to rush this one...

Huge groans from the crowd as Miley looks like he's found space in behind Aké, but the linesman calls offside late as he races away.

Hall ON

Gordon OFF

SAVE FROM DÚBRAVKA

Rodri turned into Doku, wiggling left then right before smashing low and hard into Dúbrakva's hands from the edge of the box!

Oscar Bobb has just come on for City. What a fantastic name. Sounds one of my dad's mates who sells DVDs in the pub.

Bobb ON

Doku OFF

Foden goes for a ludicrous effort from fifty (50) yards as he catches Dúbravka off his line. The goalkeeper, who is in no danger, lets the ball hit is chest and falls over acrobatically just for effect. Lovely. 

Ten to go...

Gordon's effort from distance is deflected out for a Newcastle corner and the home side het a breather.

City have had 2 minutes of ultra-threatening possession, despite being at a distance from Newcastle's goal. They're the pod of Killer Whales now, and they've got the little Geordie seal sliding around helplessly on the tiny block of ice.

Fifteen to go...

The Belgian catches Newcastle out and all of a sudden they're scrambling back with the air raid alarms blaring. 

The player feints left, right and finds an inch on the edge of the box.

Instead of smashing the back of the net, he slides a caressed effort low into the far corner from distance. 

It's delightful in its arrogance. He's just better than everyone else.

KEVIN DE BRUYNE

GUESS WHO???!!!!!

The referee, Chris Kavanagh, gives Newcastle a goal kick instead of a corner and I'm not joking, but Pep looks like he has tears in his eyes at the decision.

CHANCE FOR CITY

De Bruyne gets down the right and fires in a perfectly placed cross to Álvarez. Botman blocks from close range.

Ooo, that's a glorious chance. The ball is put back into the box and lands at the feet of The Spider, who somehow manages to smash the ball miles over!

OVER THE BAR FROM ÁLVAREZ!!!!

INTO THE WALL

Can he score with his first kick of the league season?

De Bruyne is over the ball...

De Bruyne ON

Bernardo Silva OFF

City win a dangerous free-kick, right on the edge of the box, just to the right of the 'D'. A wonderful chance to go for goal.

CHANCE FOR NEWCASTLE

It's a great chance for Newcastle to attack, with the home side racing away at speed, catching City out. The attack ends with a deflected Bruno shot landing at the feet of a City player.

The away side fire forward and Kovacic watches as his effort on goal is deflected into Dúbravka's hands.

It's Doku again as City come close: this time his low cross is deflected into the hands of the goalkeeper.

Doku flashes left before going right and firing a shot towards goal that's blocked out for a corner.

SAVE FROM DÚBRAVKA

The ball is played from Doku on the left to the penalty spot where Álvarez takes a touch and cracks a shot straight at the goalkeeper!

Here comes Kevin de Bruyne!

CHANCE FOR CITY

Walker drove down the wing and played the ball back towards Foden, who was facing away from goal when it found him just a few yards out. A scramble ensues with Bruno ending up in pain on the floor, and play is stopped.

I reckon Eddie Howe was reading The Book of the Dark Arts on his tablet when he was staring at it earlier: Newcastle are certainly using every page of it in this half.

Foden gets restless and smashes a wild effort over the bar from distance.

We're an hour into the tie and it's still tap, tap, tap on the edge of Newcastle's box from Guardiola's side as Newcastle are happy to concede corner after corner.

Kevin de Bruyne, who's gone 99% Grealish with his new haircut, is warming up for the away side as City continue to probe Newcastle's defence.

Foden drives low towards goal after some nice door-unlocking on the edge of the box, but Dúbravka is wise to the effort and collects comfortably.

We're back underway after Newcastle took a long, long time deliberating over who would take an ultimately pointless free-kick.

Guardiola is chewing the ear off the poor fourth official, who looks freezing on the touchline. City aren't happy about Newcastle's lack of urgency.

Saudi-owned Newcastle United's pitch-side advertising board has just shown a message saying 'Support the Lasses', a message for the fans to support the women's team. I'm not editorialising that message, just telling you it happened.

The Spider goes for the top corner, where the spider webs live, but Dúbravka moves across well and gets two strong hands to the ball.

City win a dangerous free-kick, just to the right of the central channel, around 34 yards out.

Super skill from both Foden and Doku on the left draws in a number of black and white shirts, giving Kovacic enough room on the edge of the box to take a touch and shoot, but it's blocked.

Rodri gets out his knitting needle and threads a ball behind Gordon into Walker's path down the wing. The full-back sends a cross into the box that's blocked out by Burn.

City win their first corner of the half and play short, allowing their opponents to continue to crush their shape and press them up against the touchline. 

Newcastle's midfield is incredibly tight and they're crushing Foden, Kovacic and Rodri all together in a tight group of three in the middle of the pitch like cunning Killer Whales.

No changes for either side.

Second half underway!

Newcastle get us going again.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Ederson injured against Newcastle: what injury did he suffer and how long will be out?

Here's the latest on the Ederson injury that saw him limp off in the first half.

Here come the players for the second half!

We're almost ready to go!

A big game player...

Be honest, did you see Anthony Gordon performing so well this season?

Bruno the provider for Newcastle's first

It was a sublime ball over the top for Isak to score the first goal for the home side, but Manchester City look terrible when it comes to defending backwards.

Half-time thoughts:

Was that the most exciting 45 minutes of the season so far?

Well, I'd be hard pressed to choose another game. We had to wait just 2 minutes and 19 seconds between Newcastle's first and second goals.

City started well and, despite Ederson going off injured, looked assured all over the pitch. The passing triangles were in full flow as Doku ran around like a lemonade-fuelled ten-year-old and created constant danger for his side. 

The first goal was a sensational flick from Silva after a nice cross in from the right. But what came before that, an offside goal for the hosts, would turn out to be an omen for what was to come.

Newcastle struck back as they continued to find space behind City's back line, with Isak bending in from distance before Anthony Gordon did the exact same thing just seconds later to turn the game on its head and put the home side in the driving seat.

HT:

Half-time!

The end of a crazy first half!

Doku wins City a corner after Miley gives the ball away. He's either tired, injured or lazy as it's poor tracking back that allows the winger to advance.

We're back underway after Newcastle's injured players, all writhing in excruciating pain, make miraculous recoveries.

Gordon goes down 2 seconds before Bruno hits the deck and Rodri is not a happy bunny rabbit.

CHANCE FOR NEWCASTLE

Almirón sends a cross in from the right that's met by Gordon, but he can only direct his header up into the air. The dropping ball is spied by Isak, only for him to swing a leg... and miss it.

8 added minutes.

30 seconds of normal time to go...

CHANCE FOR NEWCASTLE

My, oh my, Newcastle come again and send a low cross/shot from the right that skims past the far post and out for a goal kick.

Two minutes without a goal... what a snooze fest!

In all seriousness, I don't think anyone can believe what's just happened, and there's an invisible air of 'hang on a minute?!' swishing round the stadium.

ORTEGA SAVES NEWCASTLE CHANCE

Miley sends a simple ball in behind the jelly-legged City defence and Isak latches onto the end of it before smashing a low shot into the legs of Ortega.

Back underway and City win a corner instantly after Doku goes on a Super Mario-esque solo adventure, eventually seeing the ball swiped from his dancing toes.

Gvardiol's shot is blocked and cleared to Gordon, who races away down the left.

He takes the ball over the halfway line, down the pitch and cuts inside before whipping a sublime effort into the same corner Isak hit just seconds ago!

ANTHONY GORDON GOLAZO

CHANCE FOR CITY

Gvardiol sees his shot blocked from inside the box! 

Doku loses the ball and it's sent long over the top by Bruno towards Isak.

The striker takes it down delightfully, switches onto his right, stopping Walker in his tracks, and bends a woderful shot around the defender, past the goalkeeper and into the top corner of the goal.

St James' Park has exploded!

Dúbravak gets down well to stop Julián Álvarez's shot from the right side of the box. A simple stop. It was Burn who slipped to allow Foden in to play the striker on goal.

Newcastle are wobblier than a Christmas jelly but somehow City continue to allow them in on goal. What a crazy game.

HUGE CHANCE FOR NEWCASTLE

Ortega messes up a clearance which lands at the head of Almirón. He touches down to Isak who tries a chip over the goalkeeper that's saved!

Bernardo sends a thunderbolt to goal as the ball bounces towards him and Dúbravka manages to push the shot onto the post... and away!

CITY OFF THE POST!

City just kept chipping away, slowly but surely, and they found the gap. Fabulous play. Now it's time for Newcastle to react.

Let me explain:

Doku sends a delightful ball out to Walker on the right.

The full-back puts a low, driven cross into the box and Bernardo connects, sending an outrageous flick through his legs and into the far corner of the goal.

SENSATIONAL

Newcastle have dropped a few yards and have closed up their block around City's front three of Doku, Álvarez and Foden. Walker is pushing up to compensate and that's giving Gordon a green light to charge forward at every opportunity.

Rodri is like a father stood next to their child on a trampoline, bouncing around and having fun but always ready to stop the immediate danger.

We've gone past the 20-minute mark at St James' Park and Bruno is the first player to be booked after a strong challenge on Kovacic.

Walker collects the corner and fires a long-range drive towards Dúbravka, but it sails wide.

Foden squiggles and squirms past a few challenges on the edge of the box before laying off to Doku on his left, who sees his shot deflected out for a corner.

Eddie Howe is intensely studying the tablet on the sideline along with his assistant. Guardiola is Magnus Carlsen's friend, isn't he, so I reckon he's an online chess guy. Howe is more your level 1000 at Wordle.

CHANCE FOR CITY

Rodri opens well to Doku who sees his cross scrambled clear. It falls to Silva on the edge of the box but his first time effort is skewed high over the bar.

CHANCE FOR NEWCASTLE

Isak makes contact with Almirón's low cross and wants a corner as he feels it came of Dias. The former MLS man is having a great time down Newcastle's right wing.

CHANCE FOR CITY

Foden gets in behind and plays square towards Julián 'The Spider' Álvarez. Bruno G slides in and sends the ball behind for a corner.

City arrive all the way to Newcastle's box and begin to play short, sharp, horizontal passes across the 18-yard line.

Various feet are poked tentatively towards the ball as it's zipped across the pitch and eventually, a Newcastle boot makes contact, stopping the threat.

Walker looks to the sky as his threaded ball towards Bernardo Silva doesn't quite make contact with the forward's outstretched toe. More ballet practice needed.

City look shocked and Newcastle have their tails up as they flutter around like angry Magpies.

We're back underway. City have possession.

Ederson heads straight down the tunnel...

Ortega ON

Ederson OFF

Ederson can't continue. His night is over.

Wow, that was shocking from both sides!

Play is resumed and City go back to Ederson.

The goalkeeper can't use his right leg due to the pain and loses out to Gordon. The winger, however, fluffs his pass to Almirón and can't get the loose ball to him just a few yards out. City scramble and survive.

HUGE CHANCE MISSED FOR NEWCASTLE

Ederson is back on his feet and hobbling around.

We've got a stoppage in play as Ederson is receiving treatment on what looks like a knee issue.

As you were...

A lovely ball over the top towards Isak caught the City defence out. He raced in behind and squared to Longstaff inside the box, but it was Walker who go the final touch that flew past Ederson.

However, the Swedish striker was indeed offside...

OFFSIDE!!!!

City start off with the ball as Newcastle press them high. For now, Guardiola's side are managing to keep possession as they work across the pitch.

AND WE'RE OFF!

City get us underway!

Here come the players!

What a noise at St James' Park!

The players are in the tunnel!

All 22 players are ready to step out onto the pitch!

A quick reminder of the league table:

A win would put City right back in the mix for the title along with Liverpool and Aston Villa.

The clock is ticking!

Will City catch up the top two or will Newcastle be able to halt them in their tracks?

Here are City's recent results:

FACup: Man City: 5-0 Huddersfield - WIN

PL: Man City 2-0 Sheff Utd - WIN

PL: Everton 1-3 Man City - WIN

CWC: Man City 4-0 Fluminense - WIN

CWC: Man City 3-0 Urawa Reds - WIN

Fifteen minutes to go!

The warmups are coming to a conclusion across the pitch as the fans continue to pour in from all sides. 

We've not got long to go now before kick-off, and the noise is building!

What happened the last time they played?

As I hinted before, the two sides played against each other back in September, in the EFL Cup third round - everybody’s favourite cup and round.

Back then, when the summer sun was still just about creeping around, a sole Alexander Isak goal was enough to separate the two sides. 

A reminder of the starting XIs:

If you've just joined us, welcome! Here's how the two sides are set to start the game.

NEWCASTLE UNITED:

GK: Dúbravka

DEF: Trippier - Schär - Botman - Burn

MID: Bruno G . Longstaff - Miley

ATT: Almirón - Isak - Gordon

MANCHESTER CITY:

GK: Ederson

DEF: Walker - Dias - Aké - Gvardiol

MID: Rodri - Kovacic - Silva

ATT: Foden - Álvarez - Doku

Guardiola is at the stadium

The Spanish coach has arrived at St James' Park ahead of kick-off and looks serious as he aims to get City firmly back into the title race.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Why isn’t Erling Haaland playing for Manchester City against Newcastle in the Premier League?

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola revealed on Friday that start striker Erling Haaland would not be fit for the game against Newcastle United today.

When asked about an injury update for his squad, the 52-year-old simply said that Erling Haaland was “out” of the running to be in the squad for the game.

Before the tie, given the break, there appeared to be a slight possibility that Haaland could feature, although that hope has now been quashed.

Have your say!

We've got a Twitter poll up and running ahead of today's game where you can predict the score and have your say on the game.

Get involved, tell us your thoughts and I'll do my best not to call you out if you're wildly wrong!

LATE FITNESS NEWS:

Newcastle's Tino Livramento misses out on today's game against Manchester City due to illness.

Eddie Howe pre-game:

Where's KDB?

Ahead of the team news coming out, Manchester City’s Belgian boss was set to be back in contention for a starting spot in the side.

City have been without their talisman for over 100 days and nights due to a hamstring injury he sustained back in August.

Last season he was arguably - as he is most seasons - the best player in the league: playing behind Haaland he was City’s chief provider: given the freedom to roam, create and destroy at will, he managed a whopping 18 Premier League assists across the campaign, as well as 7 goals.

In the ChampionsLeague he got 2 goals and 7 assists, as well as 4 assists in the FA Cup. 

Here's how the Magpies line up:

Howe goes full-strength for the tricky tie.

City XI revealed!

Here's the Manchester City starting XI for the game today.

Newcastle's recent results:

Things haven't been going smoothly over recent weeks for Eddie Howe's side and they are winless in their last 3 Premier League games.

The derby victory over Sunderland should give the side some momentum, and the Magpies will be looking to get 2024 off to a positive start. New year, new Newcastle?

FA Cup: Sunderland 0-3 Newcastle - WIN

PL: Luton Town 1-0 Newcastle - LOSS

PL: Newcastle 1-3 Nott’m Forest - LOSS

PL: Liverpool 4-2 Newcastle - LOSS

EFLCup: Chelsea 1-1 (4-2 pens) Newcastle - LOSS

Manchester City: treble winners

'If we manage to do again this season what we did last season, I’ll retire’

OK, I may be paraphrasing, but the sentiment from Guardiola’s words remains: the staggering feat of last season, which saw City become only the second side in English football history to claim ‘the treble’ is unlikely to be repeated any time soon.

Winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in one year, as well as the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup was a season that will go down in the history books. No pressure on this year, then.

Both sides to play in their home kits

No fancy highlighter colours or lightning bolts for either side today - we've got a clash of classic colours as the Premier League have confirmed that they will be playing in their home strips for this league clash.

Newcastle have arrived at St James' Park

A very serious-faced Alexander Isak is the social media team's pick of the players to photograph - is that a hint that he's going to start? 

The ex-Real Sociedad forward has a very respectable 9 goals in 15 this season, proving just why it was necessary for the English side to stump up such a huge fee.

Those clouds don't seem to be shifting...

How strange. I'll keep you updated with the wild weather.

How the league looks for The Magpies:

Last year’s overachievers are too struggling this time around and sit down in ninth, with other mid table sides such as Chelsea and Manchester United. 

A win today, or even a point, would keep the town crier away from ringing the doomsday bell and they could - if things go their way - end the weekend as high as 7th.

Who's the ref?

For you eager beavers sitting at home with your Premier League Referee Spotter’s Guide on your lap, you can check Chris Kavanagh off the list. 

The 38-year-old has 6 years of top division experience and took charge of the Magpies' 1-0 win over City in the EFL Cup in September.

Peter Bankes is the lucky human in charge of the VAR.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Newcastle - Manchester City: times, how to watch on TV, stream online | Premier League

Fancy getting the game on your TV or streaming device?

Well, do not fear, dear reader. Take a look at our delightfully handy guide on how to watch the game today.

Bring your hat and scarf!

In quite a sensational turn of events, there is no blue sky glistening brightly over Newcastle ahead of the first whistle.

If you're not in the UK - say, the USA, for example - then let me assure you that this type of weather, clouds and cold, is not something that is a common occurrence at this time of year in the north-east.

Let's see how the players cope in these adverse conditions.

How the league looks for City:

Manchester City are currently top- oh, no they’re not!

The treble winners are finding the mud of the PremierLeague a bit stickier to wade their way through this season and currently sit in third, behind Liverpool at the top and surprise package Aston Villa in second. 

A win today would edge them closer to the top and draw level on number of games played, as they’re currently one behind ahead of kick-off.

Team news: Manchester City

Guardiola gave us the news yesterday that Erling Haaland, the blonde robot boy, would not be fit to feature today. 

As well as their main striker, John Stones is also unavailable.

Grealish was suffering from illness, but there’s hope that he might be ready to go in time, which would be a huge plus.

Kevin de Bruyne, however, is indeed fit to play after a long absence.

Team news: Newcastle United

Joelinton is out for a number of weeks with a quad tendon injury, and he joins Elliot Anderson and Joe Willock on the sidelines.

Welcome!

Hello again and welcome to the ASUSA live coverage of the Premier League game between Newcastle United and Manchester City. 

It’s Joe with you today to guide you through all the action as it unfolds in England’s north-east.

Kick off is around 90 minutes away.