In the first Premier League game without Rodri, Manchester City couldn’t get past a 1-1 draw at Newcastle United. The Skyblues were too uncreative in their offensive game and are in danger of losing the league lead to their pursuers.
The scene before the equalizer: Ederson fouled Anthony Gordon worthy of a penalty.
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How well does Manchester City function without its leader and thinker? This question arose before the Citizens’ guest appearance after European champion and Ballon d’Or candidate Rodri tore a cruciate ligament in the top game against Arsenal (2-2), which forced him to sit out for the rest of the season.
Tactically, coach Pep Guardiola made up for the loss with Kovacic and Lewis, but the Catalan’s change was initially not fruitful in terms of play: the Magpies, who were only three points behind the champions and league leaders after five match days and suffered their first defeat at Fulham the previous week (1 :3) had to accept, presented themselves as equals and appeared offensive again and again at the beginning. Meanwhile, City initially failed to achieve anything, only Akanji tried from the second row (6th).
Gvardiol shows fine footing
It was only after a good half hour that the Citizens became clearer in their actions, created their first chances – and promptly took the lead: the advanced Gvardiol, who had previously been forced to clear in the back row time after time, appeared in the penalty area and hit one Hook and sink the ball coolly in the finest striker style to take the lead (35th).
Premier League, Matchday 6
In the aftermath, the guests even failed to increase the score quickly through Gündogan (40th), before Newcastle missed the well-deserved equalizer through Joelinton shortly before the half-time whistle (45th+1).
Even after the restart, City did not find its usual dominant game, revealed gaps defensively and had no brilliant ideas in front of the goal. The Magpies kept putting needles – and were then able to celebrate the equalizer: After Ederson resorted to a foul against the breaking Gordon, the Englishman himself scored from the spot to make it 1-1 (58th).
Bernardo Silva verpasst den Lucky Punch
Afterwards, the bold Magpies even pushed for the lead, but increasingly retreated in the final phase in order to stand up to City’s final offensive. Apart from a powerful volley from Bernardo Silva (90th + 2), the favorite didn’t show enough, which is why it remained a performance-based draw, as a result of which Liverpool FC could take the lead in the table in the evening.
The Skyblues will continue in the Champions League against Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday (9 p.m.), while the Magpies will face AFC Wimbledon in the League Cup on the same evening at 8:45 p.m.
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