Pep Guardiola complained that Newcastle had kicked their way to victory – and he would have needed the full three hours of a bus journey home to lick his wounds after this bruising defeat.
The Spaniard moaned about having to travel by road back to Manchester. The road to nowhere is an apt description of City’s second-half performance, during which he bizarrely kept Erling Haaland on the bench.
Newcastle, by contrast, went through the gears after being stuck in reverse in the first half. Come the end, a win secured thanks to Alexander Isak’s 53rd-minute strike was fully deserved.
But having beaten the blue half of Manchester here, they must now overcome the red half in the fourth round. That draw, just minutes after full-time, may have tempered the elation of Eddie Howe, who had recorded his first ever win over Guardiola. And it was a victory for his management, given his game-changing introduction of Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes at half-time.
City, with seven changes from the weekend win over Nottingham Forest, bossed the opening 45 minutes without ever looking like scoring. After half-time, they just never looked like scoring.
Alexander Isak celebrates scoring the winner that dumped Man City out of the Carabao Cup
Isak was unmarked at the back post to send the Magpies through to the fourth round
Pep Guardiola was frustrated with the officials and was booked in the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle
The bossing, meanwhile, was done by Howe’s Newcastle. From being suffocated in the first half, his substitutions breathed life into his team and the home crowd.
‘We posed them problems and gave them less respect in the second half,’ said Howe. ‘Anthony and Bruno improved our performance after a very difficult first half. It’s nice to finally win (against Guardiola) but it wasn’t about that, it was about progressing.’
Gordon’s first involvement was to boot Mateo Kovacic – and the ball – into touch right in front of the away dugout. It set the tone as Newcastle switched from passive to aggressive.
‘Newcastle increased their rhythm and kicking and were aggressive,’ said Guardiola. ‘I don’t know how many fouls they did, but it is what it is.’
Rewind to kick-off and there were storm warnings on Tyneside. That did not apply to the game, so sedate were the early exchanges. ‘Is this the Etihad?’ sang 4,000 visiting fans in self-deprecating recognition of the calm.
City had 70 per cent of the ball but all they had to show for it was a Julian Alvarez shot blocked by the foot of Nick Pope. It did not reflect favourably on the current sharpness of Jack Grealish when, attempting to run clear on goal, he was caught and robbed by Paul Dummett, who last played 13 months ago.
It took 41 minutes for the hosts to scramble clear of their own half when Jacob Murphy’s shot was saved. Howe responded with that double change, removing teenagers Lewis Hall and Lewis Miley, both making their full debut. Newcastle immediately looked like a team who had won 8-0 on Sunday and Gordon ignited the home crowd by taking out Kovacic.
Erling Haaland was an unused sub despite Newcastle’s 1-0 win seeing them exit the cup
Kalvin Phillips made only his fifth start for City but struggled to make an impact on the game
City were not at their best as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup at the third-round stage
Guardiola cut a frustrated figure throughout and was unhappy with his side’s performance
Guardiola did not look happy and his frown stiffened moments later when Isak fired Newcastle in front. The Swede’s far-post finish was the easy part, for the hard yards had been run by Joelinton, bursting through three City jerseys before squaring for his team-mate. St James’ did not sound like the subdued Etihad now.
And the home tackles, some of them escalating into fouls, kept on coming. Guardiola was furious and he and Howe swapped words on the touchline. This was all a far cry from the funereal first half.
The City boss was eventually booked as he contested one decision too many. He had shown more fight than his players in the second half.
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