ST JAMES’ PARK — This was the moment the new Newcastle United arrived as a Premier League force – only to find Manchester City in no mood to relinquish their place as standard bearers for a league capable of serving up supreme entertainment.
The champions have carried the swagger of a side whose ascendancy will go largely unchallenged this season but on a frenetic, furious and fascinating afternoon at St James’ Park, black and white upstarts with pretensions of living with City in the long-term upended the Premier League’s agreed order.
3-1 up and with momentum and Allan Saint-Maximin threatening to blow Pep Guardiola’s best laid plans apart, Newcastle then felt the full quality of opponents for whom resilience is now embedded in their DNA.
Two quickfire goals, from the rapier right boot of Erling Haaland and the dreamy combination of Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva, left Newcastle reeling. The magnificent quality of City’s response elevated this game into an instant Premier League classic.
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“A proper game,” Pep Guardiola called it afterwards, with atypical understatement. Nevertheless, the narrative that bubbled under this maelstrom was that Newcastle’s improvement under Eddie Howe has lifted them out of the morass of mid-table mediocrity which they once aspired to.
It is a conscious decision on Newcastle’s part. They had spoken in the week of going on the “front foot” but made a desperate start, their back four cleaved apart by Silva’s superb ball to Ilkay Gundogan, who converted easily.
West Ham and Bournemouth both surrendered after ceding to this wonderful side. Newcastle responded, becoming more aggressive and direct. Saint-Maximin gave Kyle Walker twisted blood and the most difficult afternoon he’s had for a long while.
Miguel Almiron levelled – VAR confirmed the goal on a busy afternoon at Stockley Park – before Callum Wilson profited from Saint-Maximin’s beautiful assist. It was a world away from the passive, counter-attack plans that previous Newcastle managers have rolled out against this Manchester City juggernaut.
Newcastle have worked on this. A summer spent hammering home the message on intensity and fitness seems to have done the trick.
“For us, where we want to try and get to I don’t see the top teams sitting off, sitting down,” Howe said.
“The majority of top teams around in world football are aggressive and brave and I think that’s the model we’re going to need to have long-term success.
“Hopefully that’s a display of promise of what the future will look like.”
Guardiola agreed. “Newcastle is growing, they want a leading role in the game, they have pace, they have quality. It’s a difficult, difficult place to come,” he said.
On the sideline he had cut a frustrated figure but by the time he arrived to address the press he was more accepting of the result and performance. Such is his desire for constant improvement, there was almost a perverse pleasure in seeing his side tested like this.
“You have to live this kind of situation to improve. It’s what makes the Premier League such a good league,” he said.
If there was a criticism, it was that the understanding between Phil Foden, Erling Haaland and the rest of the retooled forward line is yet to settle. They are creating chances but taking wrong decisions.
Still, Manchester City were irresistible in patches and their fightback felt inevitable. There is so much quality that holding back the sky blue tide for 90 minutes is almost impossible.
It took a huge performance from Nick Pope to do that after City levelled at 3-3, as well as VAR’s call to overturn a red card for Kieran Trippier – doled out when his cynical high challenge brought down De Bruyne.
i understands Stockley Park sent referee Jarred Gillett to the monitor because his studs didn’t make contact with his knee. The decision to downgrade to yellow was contentious but correct. Trippier, confronted afterwards by De Bruyne, insisted he didn’t go out to injure the Belgian.
If there was a disappointment for Newcastle it was that Wilson, showing England calibre instincts in front of goal again, was withdraw as a precaution after feeling a “tight hamstring”. So much of their good work relies on him to convert.
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