Almost one year ago, a humbled Eddie Howe trudged off the Etihad Stadium turf after taking a Pep Guardiola shellacking. The final few minutes, especially, must have infuriated the Newcastle United boss as a respectable 3-0 defeat to Manchester City turned into a 5-0 hiding.
The remit to stay in the Premier League was more or less achieved but a heavy loss to the reigning - and eventual - champions outlined how far the Magpies need to go. Days earlier, Liverpool edged out a 1-0 win at St James’ Park to keep hot on the tails of City in the title race.
Forever the optimist, Howe valued the footballing lessons he received from Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp at full-time. He said: “The second and third goals were disappointing for us. There can be no better learning curve than playing against Liverpool and Manchester City.
