When the Newcastle fans at St James’ Park roar, they really roar. The noise inside the home of Newcastle United was deafening at times on Sunday, as the home faithful watched on as their side ripped strips off Manchester City.
City left the north-east with a point on Sunday after a thrilling 3-3 draw. The Blues took an early lead but by the latter stages of the first half defensive frailty had them begging for the half-time whistle.
Everything was going rather well for Pep Guardiola’s side, with Ilkay Gundogan giving City the lead with a close-range finish after just five minutes. Kevin de Bruyne should have doubled the lead moments later, but Nick Pope saved well.
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Then came the turning point, and in truth it wasn’t an expected or predictable one. Nathan Ake was replaced by Ruben Dias, the Dutch centre-back clutching his groin as he left the field.
Last season Ake’s absence would not have been keenly felt; after all, he was firmly City’s fourth choice centre-back behind Dias, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte.
This season though he has started all three of City’s league games as well as the Community Shield, and was arguably better than any of his counterparts. Still, Pep had Dias at his disposal, and with Stones already on the pitch, the chance to reunite the centre-back partnership that guided City to the title in 2020/21.
Yet after Ake left the field City’s defence fell apart. Less than 10 minutes later Miguel Almiron bundled the ball into the back of Ederson’s net to draw the hosts level, before Callum Wilson glided into the box to put City behind.
Both were well-worked goals, with Alain Saint-Maximin playing a key role. The Newcastle winger was causing City all sorts of problems on the left wing, with neither Kyle Walker or Stones able to deal with him.
Excellent wing-play aside though, Dias and Stones should have done much better with both. Twice they failed to track runners and, as Fabian Delph might say, perform the basics of defending. Two unopposed runs into the box, two goals.
Little appeared to change after half-time as the shots continued to torment the City back-line and stun the travelling fans into silence. Another all-at-sea moment at the back resulted in Keiran Trippier’s superb free-kick, and truthfully a 3-1 lead was the least Newcastle deserved.
City did get their act together and soon drew level through quickfire goals from Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva, and in the end there were positives to take. The character and grit City showed in stabilising themselves during a difficult moment in the game, drawing level and eventually playing some football at least somewhat in-keeping with their usual composed style, was impressive.
As the second half wore on they looked a little more settled in defence too, but on the whole it was a bad day at the office for Walker, Stones and Dias in particular. The shaky defensive display will have concerned Guardiola greatly, but thankfully for City they don't face teams as aggressive and pumped up by a vociferous home crowd as Newcastle every week.
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