Man City star makes ‘easy’ Newcastle United admission that will worry supporters

The Magpies continued their winless run at the Etihad Stadium as a 14-minute first-half hat-trick by Omar Marmoush saw the hosts race into a 3-0 lead - one they never ever looked like relinquishing. A mini fightback in the second-half saw Newcastle limited to just one shot on goal before a late James McAtee goal rounded off the win for the hosts.

From the moment Kieran Trippier misjudged Ederson’s long pass which allowed Marmoush to lob a stranded Martin Dubravka, Eddie Howe’s side looked lost at Eastlands as they succumbed to yet another defeat against Pep Guardiola.

Before Marmoush’s opener, United had done fairly well to repel City’s attack, but all it took was one long-kick from the Brazilian to destroy their resilience. It was an unorthodox but effective move from a Guardiola team to play the ball long and over the defence and one that Ederson admitted post-match was something that they had worked on ahead of their meeting.

“It’s a difficult team to play against because they mark man to man,” Ederson told Manchester City’s official website.

“I see the space, because they go man for man, the player free is the goalkeeper. Up front they’re man for man and we have good fast players, Savinho, Marmoush and Erling, so it’s easy, I just put the ball there.”

The Citizens moved into fourth place with that win and have opened up a three-point cushion over the Magpies. Howe’s side, meanwhile, fell down a place to 7th with Bournemouth, who defeated Southampton at St Mary’s, moving above them.

“We're disappointed, very disappointed with our general performance today.” Howe said in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s game. “I expected us to be really competitive today.

“Just starting off the ball, in terms of trying to deliver a really competitive, energetic performance, it wasn't there. Then the duels, we were off on our duels, so then it becomes very difficult because they're still the best team in the Premier League, maybe the world still in the build-up phase.

“With the ball, I think they're still a very, very difficult team to play against. They then can keep the ball for long periods of time, so it can become a difficult mix if you don't get that first part right, and we didn't today, and sadly that led to a disappointing performance.”

Nottingham Forest at home are up next for Newcastle United in another match which will test their European credentials. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were beaten by Fulham on Saturday but still sit six points above Newcastle in the table.

Forest memorably won this fixture 3-1 last season with Chris Wood smashing in a hat-trick against his former employers on Boxing Day 2023. Howe’s side have won the subsequent three meetings between the sides with two league wins and a Carabao Cup penalty shootout victory in that time.

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