NEWCASTLE, United Kingdom, September 28 – Anthony Gordon’s second-half penalty earned Newcastle a point as Manchester City were held to a draw at St James’ Park.
City defender Josko Gvardiol had put the visitors ahead after 35 minutes when he finished smartly from Jack Grealish’s lay-off.
However, while Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis combined well in covering for the influential Rodri, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, City eventually buckled during Newcastle’s best spell of the game just after the break.
When Bruno Guimaraes played an excellent pass through the City defence, Kyle Walker played Gordon onside and the England forward went down under Ederson’s challenge. Ederson was booked and Gordon kept his cool to send the Brazilian the wrong way from the spot.
Pep Guardiola’s side should have been further ahead at the break but Ilkay Gundogan fluffed his attempted chip after Newcastle keeper Nick Pope had presented a clearance straight to City when he was a long way out of his goal.
Both sides tried to force a winner, with Newcastle substitute Sean Longstaff going close for the hosts and Bernardo Silva testing Nick Pope deep in stoppage time.
The Magpies remain with only one win in 34 top-flight meetings with City, who have have now dropped four points in the space of a week after their 100% start to the campaign.
Gvardiol makes an impact
Earlier this week, Guardiola described Rodri as irreplaceable.
On every metric, that is probably true. However, there are other members of the City squad who are of huge importance, and not all of them attract the attention devoted to the man who won the Euro 2024 player of the tournament award as he guided Spain to the title.
Earlier this month, when his team were fortunate to be ahead at half-time against a Brentford side who could easily have had the game wrapped up themselves, Guardiola turned to two men to steady the ship. One was Rodri. The other was Gvardiol. The Croatia defender has not missed a minute of action in the Premier League or Champions League since.
Signed last summer for £73m, the 22-year-old is built more like a central defender than a full-back. But he has embraced the wider role with gusto. He doesn’t have the blinding pace of Kyle Walker but he is not afraid to make significant incursions into opposition territory and has a pretty accurate left foot.
When Grealish presented him with a shooting opportunity 10 minutes before the break, Gvardiol found the bottom corner with clinical efficiency.
Many will link the fact it did not prove to be the winner with Rodri’s absence. That would be simplistic. City were not held because they were deficient in midfield. Their overall performance was good. But today, the opposition had a few good players as well.
Gordon is Newcastle’s main man
As the sides came out, a number of banners were unfurled around St James’ Park celebrating Gordon, who confirmed before the game he is about to sign a new long-term contract that will confirm his status as one of his club’s highest earners.
It seems bizarre that earlier in the summer Newcastle spoke to Liverpool to gauge their interest in the former Everton man, yet such is the way of the modern world as clubs try to navigate their way round complicated financial rules.
Gordon is yet to rediscover the form that propelled him into England’s Euro 2024 squad, where he was strangely mostly a spectator.
He is a major threat though even if, playing centrally as he was in this match, he cannot find the space he enjoys in wider positions.
Thankfully for him, Walker, stationed 20 yards to his left, offered the opportunity to run onto Guimaraes’ pass. Replays showed little contact from Ederson but the reality was Gordon had to take evasive action to avoid the City goalkeeper. Gordon’s penalty was excellent.
It is clear the 23-year-old has a big role to play for Newcastle this season, hence the groans when he briefly looked as though he was injured after a late surge downfield in search of a winner. Gordon eventually got to his feet and appeared to be running freely as the final whistle went.
