Toon knocked out in sobering defeat – Newcastle 1-3 Man City

Harvey Barnes opened the scoring after a fantastic first 20 minutes from Eddie Howe and the lads. But once Man City got level they never looked back as Savinho’s equaliser and a brace from Omar Marmoush saw them progress to the quarter-finals.

We started well, but ran out of steam quickly and never recovered after City’s equaliser, with Pep Guardiola doing a job on Eddie Howe in a flat and one-sided second half.

The result now puts pressure on us to deliver both a strong performance and good result in our next game – the small matter of Barcelona in Champions League – with our European adventure and push to sneak a Europa League spot via the Premier League our focus.

Eddie Howe made four changes from Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over Man Utd, with Dan Burn, Joelinton, Jacob Ramsey and Anthony Gordon out for Sven Botman, Joe Willock, Nick Woltemade and Will Osula respectively.

But the most notable inclusion was Tino Livramento in the matchday squad for the first time since the third round game against Bournemouth: the fullback’s return simply could not have come at a better time.

Newcastle XI: Ramsdale – Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Hall – Tonali, Willock, Woltemade – Elanga, Osula, Barnes

Substitutes: Pope, Joelinton, Wissa, Gordon, Livramento, J.Murphy, Burn, A.Murphy, Neave

Man City XI: Trafford –  Nunes, Khusanov, Stones,  Ake – Nico, Reijnders, O’Reilly – Savinho, Doku, Marmoush

Once kick-off came, we continued just how we finished up on Wednesday night, being the better side in the opening stages both on and off the ball. We were very unlucky not to take the lead in the 10th minute, only denied by a great goal line clearance by Nico Gonzalez.

But we weren’t to be denied for much longer. An incisive through ball found the feet of Harves Barnes, who delivered a trademark finish to beat James Trafford and make it 1-0 to us.

Unfortunately, we peaked inside the opening 20 minutes, as a couple tweaks from Pep Guardiola allowed Man City to wrestle control of the game back in their favour. A Jeremy Doku low cross went straight past the occupied Lewis Hall and practically bouncing off Savinho for the equaliser.

Once the second half came, City tightened their grip on the tie, courtesy of the constant thorn in our side that is Omar Marmoush. The Egyptian winger grabbed a brutal brace for his 6th and 7th goals against us in all competitions.

The moment Marmoush’s second was rifled in, it felt as though the tie was over: with one eye on the Barcelona clash midweek, Howe opted to bring on the rest of his starters, including Anthony Gordon and the aforementioned Livramento, for some minutes.

Overall a mixed bag of performances across the pitch: Sven Botman was excellent on his return to the starting XI, showing that when fit he simply must be starting in the heart of the defence.

Sandro Tonali is getting back to his best as well, with another metronomic performance in the midfield. And Harvey Barnes goal was a much-needed rot stopper after he’s gone through a mini goalscoring drought.

And so ends perhaps our best chance of securing European football for next season. With a fourth straight loss to Man City this season, Howe will need to get the lads ready for the daunting task ahead against Hansi Flick’s side on Tuesday. And it now leaves very little excuse for us to slip up in the Premier League between now and the end of the season.

Keep the faith. Howay the lads!