(Football news) Even though Man City dominated the first half at St. James’ Park, clear-cut opportunities were hard to come by despite all of their possession. As a result of their inability to take advantage of their position of strength, the eight-time competition champions were finally penalised when Newcastle took the lead through Isak in the 53rd minute.
Even though Rico Lewis missed a late chance, Newcastle was relatively trouble-free in the final moments, ensuring that they could celebrate their advancement to the fourth round. Manchester City will need to bounce back from their first third-round exit since the 2012–13 season, while the Magpies aim to repeat their run to the final from the previous year.
As both Newcastle and Man City had to juggle Champions League play with their domestic commitments, Eddie Howe and Pep Guardiola seized the opportunity to make significant adjustments for the EFL Cup match. Newcastle was in a positive frame of mind after Sunday’s convincing 8-0 victory against Sheffield United, but they were put on the back foot for the duration of the opening frame.
The first significant opportunity was created by Oscar Bobb, who was starting for Man City in his first senior game, when he passed the ball to Julian Alvarez. Nick Pope’s right foot stopped Alvarez’s low shot. Just before the half-hour mark, Alvarez received another chance, but due to the decreasing angle, he was unable to maintain his aim.
Newcastle had the brunt of the first half’s possession but came within a whisker of taking the lead in the 41st when Jacob Murphy sprinted into the box but was brilliantly stopped by Stefan Ortega. Howe introduced Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes off his bench after being unimpressed with Newcastle’s performance in the first half.
Newcastle jumped out of the gates and took the lead within eight minutes of the game’s beginning thanks to the adjustments, which gave them more motivation. Before delivering the ball across the net for Isak to control and score from close range, Joelinton intentionally drove towards the Man City manager.
Guardiola introduced Matheus Nunes and Jeremy Doku in the 68th and Phil Foden six minutes later in an effort to produce a comeback. Tino Livramento’s last-ditch tackle denied Nunes a one-on-one opportunity, but the substitutions did not have the anticipated impact.
In the 90th minute, Lewis came within inches of tying the score when he fired a shot just short of Pope’s goal, which turned out to be Man City’s final opportunity of the game. Man City will concentrate on their Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday after their unfortunate EFL Cup defeat, while Newcastle will try to win their third straight game overall when they play Burnley at St. James’ Park.
Also read: Arsenal set to face Brentord in the 3rd round
