MAN DOWN
Newcastle 1 Man City 1: Champions fail first test of being without Rodri as they drop points in Prem title race twist
Manchester City failed to name a full bench against Newcastle
ANTHONY GORDON celebrated committing his long-term future to Newcastle by scoring his team's deserved equaliser.
And Manchester City failed the first test of being without Rodri for the rest of the season, while manager Pep Guardiola was unable to name a full bench.
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Pep Guardiola's side had lost the last four Premier League games they had played without the Spain midfielder and captain Kevin de Bruyne, so in some ways this was an improvement.
But City were second best for too long in a physical, often heated encounter as the home side picked themselves up after Josko Gvardiol's first-half opener and earned a point through Gordon's penalty.
The former Everton winger is on the verge of signing a new deal to keep him at St James' Park until the end of the decade.
And he was a menace from start to finish in this game.
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Rivals Liverpool and Arsenal will be thinking it is now or never to end City's run of four consecutive titles.
Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope made a smart save from Bernardo Silva in stoppage time but defeat would have been very harsh on the hosts, and very generous to the visitors.
Guardiola lamented that Rodri was irreplaceable but said he would do his best to find a way to cope with the resources at his disposal.
The City boss in fact made three changes, dropping Savinho and Jeremy Doku to the bench as well as bringing in Rico Lewis to play a midfield role alongside Ilkay Gundogan and Mateo Kovacic.
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Newcastle, too, were missing a key player. Alexander Isak has broken a toe, and with Callum Wilson also injured, Howe asked Gordon to reprise the role as a central forward that he had played for England’s European Championship-winning Under-21 side in 2023.
Sandro Tonali, back from a very different kind of absence, made his first Premier League start of the campaign.
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For most of the first half, it was a game of few chances but plenty of needle.
Newcastle started quickly, as had been their habit at home this season.
They were clearly targeting City’s left but the closest they came from open play was a Kieran Trippier shot that poleaxed Jack Grealish.
City looked less comfortable from set-pieces, and a couple of Newcastle corners could have ended up anywhere.
The home team’s pressing was not allowing the visitors much time on the ball. When City did break, Gundogan miscued a shot and Trippier stopped Erling Haaland stealing in at the back post.
Fabian Schar and Bruno Guimaraes were both booked for fouls but plenty of others went unpunished.
Gvardiol breaks the deadlock
Then City opened the scoring with the first moment of real quality in the game.
Grealish was slightly fortunate to beat Trippier after a heavy touch but his pass to Gvardiol was sharp. The left-back turned inside Dan Burn and fired a precise right-footed shot across Pope and into the net.
Moments later Newcastle almost gave up a second goal.
Gundogan picked off Pope’s pass to Burn but totally misjudged his attempted lob over the retreating goalkeeper.
Jacob Murphy’s fine run ended in a shout for handball but otherwise the home side barely threatened to hit back until stoppage-time.
Ederson saved smartly after a free-kick fell to Joelinton and Trippier’s follow-up effort was blocked behind.
Feisty second half
The second half started as a more open game. Schar headed off target from a Bruno cross and referee Jarred Gillett decided Kyle Walker’s untidy challenge on Harvey Barnes did not merit a penalty.
At the other end, the undercurrent of menace bubbled over when Tonali hit the deck after Grealish had shrugged him off aggressively.
Again, nothing doing, according to the officials on and off the pitch.
But Newcastle’s third claim was accepted. Bruno sent Gordon clean through and Ederson’s touch was enough to bring him down.
Gillett pointed to the spot, showed Ederson a yellow card and Gordon sent the City goalkeeper the wrong way to level the score.
Incredibly, the home side were soon screaming for another penalty for Walker’s challenge on Joelinton. It was not given but Ederson immediately had to save from Barnes.
Looking for a winner
The champions were on the ropes and St James’ Park was rocking.
Challenges were flying in all over the place and a red card seemed to be in the post for someone.
City were looking the more likely to find a winner.
Pope had to be alert to stop Haaland latching on to a through ball and was then happy to see substitute Phil Foden shoot straight at him. Grealish’s cross was too fierce for Haaland to direct his header on goal.
Howe made a triple change, one of them enforced as Trippier picked up a knock.
Sean Longstaff came close to making the perfect impact but dragged a shot wide from Murphy’s cross. As the clock ticked down, Gordon came close to blocking an Ederson clearance in the City six-yard box.
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The home fans roared when the fourth official announced seven minutes of added time.
But it was City who almost snatched a winner when Silva's smart turn and volley was beaten away by Pope.
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