🏆 Newcastle 1-0 Man City: Eddie beats Pep as Toon march on in Carabao Cup!
An incredible night at St James' Park, as Newcastle United beat European champions Manchester City to move into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
It's Eddie Howe's first ever win over Pep Guardiola, our fourth straight clean sheet, another statement victory and the perfect start to another huge week on Tyneside, where we won a game of two halves thanks to a second half strike from Alexander Isak.
Tino Livramento was absolutely outstanding on his first start for the club, Lascelles and Dummett stepped up in rare appearances and the introduction of Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes changed the game after a passive opening 45 minutes from a new-look Newcastle side.
Eddie Howe made 10 changes from the 8-0 win over Sheffield United. Pope was the only player from Sunday who kept his place, as Lascelles, Dummett, Targett, Tonali, Miley, Hall, Murphy, Joelinton and Isak replaced Trippier, Botman, Schar, Burn, Longstaff, Bruno, Anderson, Almiron, Barnes and Wilson.
Home debuts for Hall, Livramento and 17-year-old Geordie Lewis Miley created a buzz of excitement ahead of kick-off, with Joelinton's early return also a huge boost after the Brazilian was spotted in training on Tuesday.
It was soaking at St James' but we made a decent start over the first 15 minutes. Man City were having most of the ball (64%), as expected, but it was Isak who had the first opening after a lovely one-two with Hall down our left. The Swede picked up the ball at pace and had Gvardiol on the back foot as he bared down on goal, but the Croatian showed his class and read it superbly.
Moments later, City cut us open and very nearly made it 0-1. Norwegian talent Oscar Bobb found a pocket of space in behind our midfield, cut inside and slipped the ball in behind to Julian Alvarez. Fortunately, the Argentinian's effort was too close to Nick Pope, who parried before a black and white shirt booted clear.
We weren't using the ball well enough - Tonali misplaced a few early passes and didn't look as comfortable in that No 6 role. The ball kept coming back at us.. With that, City were looking increasingly likely to get in behind. Right on cue, Grealish almost burst through the middle, only for Paul Dummett to deny the winger with a perfectly-timed recovery tackle, showing there's life in the old dog yet!
That brilliant tackle aside, we had to do better in possession and stem the flow of attacks. Targett was the next to give it away cheaply in a bad position. Thankfully, City didn't punish as Bobb's cross evaded everyone in the box, but they were at it and we were beginning to look like a side who'd made 10 changes.
Alvarez went close for the second time just before the half hour mark, firing well wide - this time from the left - after ghosting in between Livramento and Lascelles. We had made a steady start, but were being pushed further and further back, with City's next chance coming from Gvardiol; who almost headed home from a corner conceded by Hall's heavy back pass.
With 35 minutes on the clock, we'd completed just one pass in the final third to City's 81; a stat which summed up our first half struggles as we edged towards the break. We were giving them too much respect off the ball and weren't doing enough when we got it. That said, arguably the biggest chance of the half came our way just moments before the break. Joelinton robbed Phillips of possession, Isak got his head up and picked out Murphy who was free down the right, but he never looked comfortable and saw his low shot saved by Ortega.
Howe made two positive changes at the break, seeing Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon replace teenage duo Lewis Miley and Lewis Hall. We'd immediately moved 20 yards further up the pitch and added some much needed intensity and zip to our play. Tonali had our first chance after arriving late from Livramento's cut-back, but that was just a taster of what was to come, as we took the lead on 53 minutes!
It started with a line-breaking pass from Lascelles, who picked out Murphy, who burst inside and fired into Joelinton. The big man then carried the ball into the box and found an unmarked Isak superbly, who took one touch and finished with his left. 1-0 Newcastle and a stunning start to the second half, which was in complete contrast to our passive opening 45!
The crowd was up and we were winning the ball back at will, playing with that Eddie Howe intensity we all know and love. We stepped on the champions and they couldn't cope, with Gordon, Isak, Murphy all leading the press and revving up a St James' Park crowd that were suddenly given so much to shout about.
Man City had now become the side struggling to get anything going in the final third, however, it was a huge worry to see Isak limp off on the hour mark, going down off the ball before he made way for Miguel Almiron. Bruno Guimaraes also went down holding his calf, but he was able to continue. In attack, Gordon took up a central role, seeing Almiron slot in down the left and Murphy remain on the right.
Kavlin Phillips and Manuel Akanji then went into the book within 60 seconds to highlight City's frustration, then it was Bruno who was shown a yellow. Our intensity eased slightly, as we preferred instead to keep our shape and keep City at bay. With that, Pep - who also went into the book - reacted with three changes, as Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes all came on.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, Tino Livramento came up trumps once again with a goal-saving challenge on Nunes. The 20-year-ol had been sensational. On his first start for 18 months, he didn't let Jack Grealish passed him once and showed superb defensive instincts to deny Nunes.
With 85 on the clock, it felt like a matter of time until a certain Erling Haaland was introduced. In the mean time, we continued fighting for every ball, as Miguel Almiron became the latest to cut out a City attack with a brilliant piece of tracking back.
Doku was causing problems after switching to the left and cut in to set up Rico Lewis, who fortunately saw his edge of the box effort fly wide of Pope's post before six minutes of added time was added on.
Anderson replaced the tiring Tonali to run down the clock and add in some fresh legs, then we saw a trademark challenge from Dummett, which was met with a huge roar from 50,000 inside St James' Park. He got injured in the process but went off to a standing ovation, seeing Fabian Schar come on for the final two minutes.
120 seconds to hold on against the treble winners and we did exactly that, sending us into the fourth round, securing four straight clean sheets and Eddie Howe's first ever win over Pep Guardiola; who'd never lost before in the third round of the league cup.
Next up, Burnley on Saturday before PSG come to Tyneside in the UEFA Champions League a week today. GET IN!
(4-3-3): Pope – Livramento, Lascelles, Dummett, Targett – Tonali, Miley, Hall – Murphy, Isak, Joelinton.
SUBS: Karius, Trippier, Schar, Gordon, Ritchie, Manquillo, Almiron, Anderson, Guimaraes
