PEP GUARDIOLA'S TIRADE SUMS CITY'S DISAPPOINTING NIGHT
Man City's title chase stumbles as Erling Haaland's record chase fails at St James' Park. A costly defeat to Newcastle reveals City's reliance on their star striker and the defensive frailties that cost them vital points.
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As the supporters of Newcastle United ambled by Alan Shearer's monument before the commencement of the match at St. James' Park, the unwelcome twist of fate would have crossed their minds, with the potential scenario of witnessing one of their icons' scoring accomplishments being surpassed in his own territory.
A goal scored by Erling Haaland in the northeast would have superseded Shearer as the quickest player to attain 100 goals in the annals of the Premier League. The Norwegian is destined to seize this record sooner rather than later, having 14 remaining opportunities to achieve it, but the fact that he did not seize it here is substantially why Manchester City was unsuccessful in amplifying the pressure on Arsenal in anticipation of the North London showdown.
A monument of Haaland will likely be erected outside the Etihad one day, but when he reflects upon his tenure with City, this match will be one he wishes to forget. He was presented with three opportunities to achieve his Premier League century. All three times, he was unsuccessful in doing so. Two of these instances were the kind of opportunities he has been eagerly capitalising on this season.
Conversely, this match served as an unwelcome and jarring reminder of the ramifications when Haaland fails to score. The city suffers a loss. He was kept at bay by a Premier League team for the fourth occasion this season, and on the third occasion, it resulted in a defeat for his squad.
Haaland bears a significant portion of the goal-scoring responsibility in this team. The weight of the pressure is unlikely to impede him, given that he recently guided Norway to its first World Cup appearance in 28 years, but this was a costly day off.
Ruben Dias assumed the mantle of goal scorer, unleashing a powerful shot from a corner into the net, thereby levelling the score for the Blues after Harvey Barnes's opening goal. He became the ninth distinct Premier League goal scorer for City this season, but Haaland remains the sole player to have scored more than one goal.
If Pep Guardiola's team had been defensively sound, a goal from a central defender might have sufficed, but they never exhibited any semblance of control at St. James' Park. This was a chaotic affair, precisely the kind of match Guardiola despises because they are equally susceptible to being lost as they are to being won.
Dias's goal was bookended by two goals from Barnes during a frenzied seven-minute period that encapsulated the essence of the game. The initial goal transpired after a poor clearance by Nico O'Reilly failed to address the impending danger, but the execution from 20 yards was impeccable.
The second goal was scored from a set piece that City failed to clear. Gianluigi Donnarumma was incensed at not being awarded a foul from the corner and received a booking for his demonstration before becoming embroiled in a heated exchange with Newcastle assistant Jason Tindall.
The fiery pair kept up their heated argument even after the final whistle. Donnarumma gave Tindall a frosty glare after Tindall brushed him off with a casual hand gesture, and Donnarumma looked ready to explode. Not far away, Pep Guardiola and Bruno Guimaraes were wrapped up in their own argument.
It was clear that City was very frustrated, which showed how much they missed out on a great chance. They could have made the title race more interesting in November by getting within a point of Arsenal. Instead, the Gunners now have an opportunity to take back control of the story.
This was the kind of ending that everyone expected from this match. At halftime, the main question was how the game was still tied at zero. Barnes could have scored within the first half-minute after Newcastle took advantage of a bad pass from Donnarumma, but Barnes gave the Italian a straightforward opportunity to make amends.
That opening moment set the tone for a game that was as wild and fun as a Saturday night in Newcastle's bustling Bigg Market. Donnarumma mentioned this week that he was enjoying how intense life is in the Premier League, so he must have felt very comfortable in this game.
Nick Woltemade had scored with each of his first six shots that hit the goal in the Premier League, and when he headed Tino Livramento's cross, he must have thought he would score a seventh, but the towering Italian goalie blocked it. Shortly after, Donnarumma did it again, but Haaland couldn't capitalise on the rebound at the opposite end.
He let Nick Pope get away with running out of his goal area about 15 yards early in the game, and then he shot the ball right at the goalie from eight yards out on his first attempt. Phil Foden missed another obvious chance after a well-executed move by City, and he should have gotten a penalty when Fabian Schar fouled him.
The feeling of unfairness would stay, but the excitement was just getting started.
PEP GUARDIOLA REFUSES TO GUARANTEE RODRI’S RETURN FOR MONDAY’S PREMIER LEAGUE CLASH
Pep Guardiola provides the latest injury news on Rodri, Ruben Dias, and Josko Gvardiol ahead of a crucial title race clash at Everton.
Pep Guardiola has shared the latest on Manchester City's injury situation ahead of Monday’s Premier League match against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
City is in good form right now. They came from behind to beat Southampton 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend, making it six wins in a row across all competitions.
But they’ve had to do it without Rodri. He's missed their last two matches, including a tight 1-0 win at Burnley, after hurting his groin against Arsenal a couple of weeks back. Guardiola recently told reporters that Rodri is getting better, but the team’s been cautious and isn’t rushing him back.
At his latest press conference on Friday, Guardiola said Rodri still hasn’t returned to training, so they’re just taking it day by day. There's hope, but Guardiola wouldn’t give any guarantees about Rodri’s chances of playing against Everton. "He’s getting better. Still, he didn't train with us, so we’ll see in the next few days,” he said. When pressed about his confidence, Pep just replied, “I am always confident.”
With Rodri still not training, it sounds like a last-minute decision on whether he’ll play. A start against Everton seems unlikely. That probably means Nico González, who scored the winner against Southampton, will keep his spot in midfield next to Bernardo Silva. Maybe Nico O’Reilly slides into central midfield, too, if he isn’t covering at left-back.
It’s not all good news in defence either. Ruben Dias is still out with the ankle injury that’s kept him sidelined for the last six games, and Josko Gvardiol is recovering from the tibial fracture he picked up in January. Both are working their way back, and Guardiola says they’re improving, but there’s no sign of a return just yet.
Turning to the Everton game, City could head into it trailing Arsenal by six points if the Gunners beat Fulham on Saturday. With the title race this tight, City can’t afford to slip up.
Guardiola knows Monday will be tough. “Everton have always been tough,” he said. “Old Everton was so cool and so British, and I loved to go there, but in the new stadium, they are defending really well, and it has always been tough." He’s not taking recent Everton results lightly, adding, 'They're fighting for a place in Europe. We won with two or three actions here, but we were not good at that moment. We can’t have any result but win, win, win.”
Everton won’t be easy, especially away, but City can at least take confidence from their strong record of 17 league games unbeaten against the Toffees. They won the reverse fixture 2-0, with Haaland scoring both goals. Still, Guardiola isn’t expecting it to be straightforward.
MANCHESTER CITY’S REQUEST TO RESCHEDULE PIVOTAL PREMIER LEAGUE TIES BRUTALLY DENIED
The Premier League has rejected Man City’s plea to swap Palace and Bournemouth matches. See City's brutal end-of-season schedule.
Manchester City are on the hunt for another domestic treble just seven years after the last one. Pep Guardiola pulled it off in 2018/19 with wins in the Premier League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup. Now he's got his sights set on doing it again.
City’s deep run in the cups has created a mess for their league schedule. Their home game against Crystal Palace, which was supposed to happen during the Carabao Cup final weekend on March 22, got bumped. Same thing with their trip to Bournemouth, originally set for the day after the FA Cup final.
There’s a hold-up with rescheduling Palace; the Eagles’ Conference League semi-final run means they’ve got barely any free midweek dates. The match was pencilled in for Wednesday, May 13, but things got complicated when City reached the FA Cup Final, and Bournemouth got postponed too. The city asked the Premier League if they could play Bournemouth on Tuesday, May 12, then face Palace a week later, to squeeze in an extra recovery day before the Wembley showdown. Plus, that would give them the bonus of finishing their last two league games at home. But the Premier League usually insists that the fixture that was originally scheduled first in this case, Palace, gets played first.
According to The Mirror, City’s request was shot down. So now Guardiola’s team has to cram their last four matches into just 12 days: Palace visits on May 13, then the FA Cup Final, Bournemouth away on May 19, and finally wrapping things up at home to Aston Villa on May 24.
They couldn't play Bournemouth on May 20 because that’s the Europa League final night, and UEFA didn’t want any Premier League games stealing the spotlight when Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest could be involved.
The Mirror says the revised fixture dates and kick-off times are coming out today. Chelsea, also FA Cup finalists, will play their rescheduled match against Tottenham on May 19.
City still has to travel to Everton next Monday and host Brentford on Saturday, May 9. Then comes their jam-packed finish, starting with Palace.
Meanwhile, title rivals Arsenal will be hoping City’s crowded schedule works in their favour. Though Arsenal has its own challenge, a Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid is spread across the next two midweeks.
Arsenal closes out its league campaign with home games against Fulham and Burnley and trips to West Ham and Palace.
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