Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw in a fiery encounter in the lunchtime kick-off at Newcastle United.
Josko Gvardiol fired City into a first-half lead after a cleverly-crafted goal that saw him convert Jack Grealish’s threaded pass.
But Newcastle equalised form the penalty spot midway through the second half with Anthony Gordon scoring after he had been brought down by Ederson.
City kept pushing for a winner with Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva having strong efforts on goal but both sides had to settle for a point.
WHAT HAPPENED
Newcastle and City has almost always been a must-watch game throughout the Premier League era, with so many classic matches over the years including last season’s incredible last-gasp 3-2 win at St James’ Park.
However, City were missing our clutch heroes from that victory with Kevin De Bruyne and Oscar Bobb out due to injury as well as Nathan Ake and Rodri who both started that clash.
Ballon d’Or frontrunner Rodri is set to miss the entire season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal but Guardiola says we must find a solution to his absence, and opted for Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic at the centre of midfield against a strong Newcastle team.
The former Academy player was quickly into the action, getting caught by Joelinton making a clearance in the opening minute as the home side tried to make a fast start.
And Newcastle forward Gordon thought he might have Ederson in danger as he pressed high up the pitch, but the Brazilian keeper was typically unflustered and an audacious backheel kept City in control.
City had early attempts through Manuel Akanji and Erling Haaland but there were few chances in the opening half hour despite a frenetic pace.
Lewis made a clever run behind the Newcastle defence from Gvardiol’s free-kick and the ball was worked to Ilkay Gundogan on the edge of the box but he miscued his attempt.
Haaland then showed his strength to hold off Dan Burn’s challenge and was close to finishing off a sweeping move at the backpost but Kieran Trippier just beat the Norwegian to Bernardo‘s low cross.
A physical encounter saw Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes receive yellow cards for late tackles, but it was a touch of finesse that led to the breakthrough.
Grealish, brilliantly rode a Trippier challenge before an incisive pass picked out Gvardiol who turned inside Burn and sidefooted home a clever finish past Nick Pope.
Moments later, the English keeper tried to match Ederson’s calmness on the ball and could only give it away to Gundogan but scrambled back to keep out the midfielder’s long-range attempt.
Ederson, meanwhile, was called into action on the stroke of half-time, reacting expertly to keep out Joelinton’s vicious strike.
But just before the hour the Brazilian was adjudged to have caught Gordon as he raced into the box.
He was unhappy with the decision, believing that the winger initiated the contact, but Gordon made no mistake from the spot.
The equaliser raised the temperature inside the stadium with Kovacic, Grealish, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton all booked in the space of three minutes as the game threatened to boil over.
Foden came on to try to help us wrestle back control and hit a fierce volley that was stopped by Pope.
Haaland had a header off-target and Newcastle’s Sean Longstaff dragged a shot wide as both sides tried to get a winner.
And the closest either side came was in stoppage time when Bernardo‘s superb turn and volley was tipped over the bar.
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