Phil Foden and Erling Haaland each missed a pair of sitters as Manchester City fell to a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United which threatens to derail their Premier League title charge. City's two big-game players froze at St James' Park and Harvey Barnes grabbed the headlines instead, giving Newcastle the lead and then snatching the winner after Ruben Dias' deflected equaliser.
The first half witnessed the highest amount of 'Big Chances' created in the league this season and it felt like a competition to determine who could miss the most glaring opportunities. Haaland dinked the ball wide after a wonderful through ball from Jeremy Doku and then aimed straight at Nick Pope after a cut-back from Nico O'Reilly. Foden missed an even better opportunity when he fired wide of the far post after playing a one-two with Rayan Cherki. Newcastle were equally guilty of wastefulness. Nick Woltemade sent a shot and a header too close to Gianluigi Donnarumma. Barnes had the reddest face of all, though, somehow missing the target from point-blank range when meeting a sweeping ball across the box.
City had two penalty appeals turned down, first when Foden fell from a tackle by Fabian Schar – albeit after getting his shot away – and then when a Doku shot hit the arm of Malick Thiaw.
The second half was less frenetic but it delivered on the goals front. Barnes compensated for his glaring miss by nailing the ball into the bottom corner to put Newcastle in front in the 64th minute. The Magpies' joy did not last long as Dias pulled a goal back for City with the help of a big deflection off Schar, but Newcastle came straight back at Pep Guardiola's side, capitalising on some poor goalkeeping from Donnarumma to bundle the ball in after Bruno Guimaraes had headed against the bar.
The goal was given after a long VAR check for offside, meaning City had eight minutes of additional time to find their way back. But it was no use and they had to digest a fourth defeat in just 12 Premier League games, handing a massive advantage in the title race to Arsenal, one day before the north London derby.
GOAL rates Man City's players from St James' Park…
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Gianluigi Donnarumma (5/10):
Played with fire when his short pass to Foden in the first minute was intercepted then did well to get his body in front of the three Woltemade efforts. There was nothing he could do to stop Barnes' arrow although he made a mess of the two crosses leading to the second.
Matheus Nunes (5/10):
Struggled to handle Barnes for much of the game. Had a good first-half from an attacking point of view although his threat faded.
Ruben Dias (6/10):
Couldn't stop the move leading to the opener although it wasn't a big error. Got lucky with the equaliser.
Josko Gvardiol (5/10):
Made a brilliant goal-line clearance just before the second goal. Despite that, he struggled to contain many of Newcastle's breaks.
Nico O'Reilly (6/10):
Good going forward although his botched clearance led to Newcastle breaking the deadlock.
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Bernardo Silva (5/10):
Didn't give Gonzalez enough support when doubling up with him in holding midfield and didn't manage to control the game with possession.
Nico Gonzalez (5/10):
His good run of form vanished as he was overwhelmed in midfield.
Phil Foden (4/10):
Uncharacteristically sloppy in front of goal. He normally buries both of the efforts that came his way, especially the one in the first half which opened up perfectly for him.
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Rayan Cherki (5/10):
Had a couple of nice moments such as setting up Foden and keeping the move alive for the equaliser but overall didn't get too involved in the game.
Erling Haaland (4/10):
A bad day at the office, perhaps feeling the effects of firing Norway to the World Cup. Couldn't get his 100th Premier League goal despite having three chances, two of them you would normally back him to score.
Jeremy Doku (7/10):
The one City player who could be pleased with their performance. Created lots of danger in the first half and on another day would have won a penalty for handball.
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Savinho (5/10):
Lashed a wild shot over and wide when he should have hit the target.
Tijjani Reijnders (6/10):
Gave City more urgency going forward.
Oscar Bobb (5/10):
No magic moment like his winner in 2024 as he struggled to get into the game.
Omar Marmoush (N/A):
Replaced Foden in the 87th minute.
Pep Guardiola (5/10):
Has to be disappointed with how open his side were, conceding a hatful of chances even before the goals arrived. And all the momentum from the Liverpool win is gone.