Newcastle 1-0 Man City: Player ratings as Guardiola’s Quadruple hopes end at the first hurdle
Newcastle United knocked Manchester City out of the third round of the Carabao Cup thanks to a 1-0 win on Wednesday night.
Alexander Isak scored the only goal of the game 10 minutes into the second half, after Man City dominated the opening 45 minutes. And Pep Guardiola’s side were unable to turn things around, seeing their Quadruple hopes end so early in the season.
Here’s how the players rated at St James’ Park:
Newcastle
Nick Pope – 6 – Produced a great save to deny Alvarez in the first half and easily caught Grealish’s effort, but was otherwise relatively untested.
Tino Livramento – 8 – Did wonderfully against Grealish, completely nullifying the Man City winger. Was allowed to get forward more in the second half, knowing he didn’t really have trouble at the back. Produced a great last-ditch tackle to stop Nunes from equalising late on.
Jamaal Lascelles – 7 – Defended on the front foot but his passing was a bit of a hindrance. That won’t matter though with Newcastle in the hat for the fourth round.
Paul Dummett – 7 – Produced a great tackle to stop Grealish from breaking through midway through the first half. Did his job as required.
Matt Targett – 5 – Ended up being pushed further forward and didn’t look up to speed.
Lewis Miley – 4 – Unfortunately the game seemed to pass him by.
Sandro Tonali – 7 – Was overrun in midfield in the first half, having to do the work of three. But he stepped things up after half time with his usual midfield partners.
Lewis Hall – 5 – Made a good pass into Isak but otherwise wasn’t really involved in the first half.
Jacob Murphy – 7 – Didn’t really get in the game but had Newcastle’s best chance in the first half, played through on the break but his shot was saved. As Newcastle grew into the game so did he, consistently running at the Man City defenders.
Alexander Isak – 7 – Isolated in the first half with just eight touches, but one of those was a great pass into Murphy for the best opportunity. He had equalled the amount of touches inside 10 minutes of the second half and one was a crucial strike at the far post, getting onto the end of Joelinton’s ball. Really livened up and helped put Newcastle in control.
Joelinton – 8 – Put himself about as he does and forced the error for Murphy chance. Lovely footwork to break into the box to set up Isak’s goal. A good performance on his return from injury.
Substitutes:
Bruno Guimaraes (for Miley 45) – 8 – His introduction into the midfield completed changed the game, with Newcastle taking control.
Anthony Gordon (for Hall 45) – 7 – Asked questions of the Man City defence down his flank that weren’t being asked in the first half.
Miguel Almiron (for Isak 62) – 7 – Helped ensure Man City weren’t able to break down the Newcastle midfield, pressing every second he was on the pitch.
Elliot Anderson (for Tonali 90) – N/A – A late sub.
Fabian Schar (for Dummett 90) – N/A – A late sub.
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Man City
Stefan Ortega – 5 – Produced a good save to deny Murphy but couldn’t do anything about Isak’s goal.
Rico Lewis – 6 – Made a couple of sloppy passes early on but grew into the game very quickly in that hybrid full-back/midfield role. Dummied the ball for Isak to score at the back post and was rendered ineffective in the second half.
Manuel Akanji – 6 – Looked okay but didn’t really have too much to do defensively. He may have been better playing a bit further forward.
Nathan Ake – 6 – Got forward a lot, but was caught out for Newcastle’s chance in the first half, giving Murphy far too much space. Less effective in the second half.
Josko Gvardiol – 7 – Did well to defend against Isak when he bore down on goal, but otherwise had very little to do despite ending on the losing side.
Sergio Gomez – 6 – His set piece deliveries were seriously testing and he didn’t look out of place in the midfield. But like the rest of his team, he was quiet in the second half.
Kalvin Phillips – 4 – Lost the ball in midfield for Newcastle’s first-half chance and didn’t look too great. Man City will be counting the games for Rodri’s return. One game down, two to go.
Mateo Kovacic – 7 – Looked good in midfield, kept things ticking and looked to get the attacks started in the midfield. Slightly lost control in the second half and was taken off, though that was possibly the plan as he returns from injury.
Oscar Bobb – 7 – Was a bright spark for Man City’s attack and could have had a couple of assists, linking up well with Alvarez. Was good on a break in the first half but did slightly overhit his pass into Alvarez. Quiet in the second half but he should be happy with his performance.
Julian Alvarez – 5 – Tested Pope and had Man City’s best opportunities in the first half despite not really being involved in the game. You could be forgiven for thinking he had gone off at half time, as Alvarez struggled to make a break in the second half.
Jack Grealish – 4 – A bit of a passenger throughout, actually slowing things down a bit too much for Man City’s attack. Had a shot in the second half but it was easily caught by Pope.
Substitutes:
Matheus Nunes (for Ake 68) – 6 – Added a bit more composure to Man City’s midfield that had been lost, though it wasn’t a telling change.
Jeremy Doku (for Kovacic 68) – 7 – Took him some time to get going after coming on but he brightened things up for Man City, causing problems.
Phil Foden (for Alvarez 73) – 5 – Didn’t really make too much of an impact.
