Five things we learned as Newcastle were beaten 3-1 by Man City in the FA Cup fifth round
Pep Guardiola was furious that Manchester City did not get a free kick for a foul on Jeremy Doku and the Blues boss was booked
Newcastle United were knocked out of the FA Cup on Saturday evening as they fell to a 3-1 loss to Manchester City in the fifth round.
Harvey Barnes fired the Magpies into a first-half lead but Savinho’s equaliser, followed by a brace from Omar Marmoush, saw them fall to defeat at St James’ Park.
It meant United exited the competition at the fifth round stage for the second successive season and ended their chances of winning a domestic trophy this term.
Here are five things we learned from a tough evening for Newcastle.
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Man City bench makes mockery of Hopkinson claim
Pep Guardiola made 10 changes to his Man City side that drew with Nottingham Forest in midweek and, such is the strength in depth in their squad, it didn’t really weaken them.
After negotiating a difficult opening half an hour, they took control of the game and, in truth, schooled Newcastle from that point onwards.
City’s substitutes did a keep ball session directly in front of the press box before the game and the quality on their bench was absurd. Former Ballon d’Or winner Rodri led the group that also included Ruben Dias, Marc Guehi, Rayan Cherki, Phil Foden and Antoine Semenyo.
The ability in that group is something Newcastle can only dream of possessing and highlights the huge chasm between City and United as things stand right now.
Newcastle CEO David Hopkinson told the media in December he wants Newcastle to be in the conversation to be the biggest club in the world by 2030. With just under four years to go to meet that self-imposed deadline, there is an argument the gap between the Magpies and the Cityzens has widened this season rather than narrowed. Four defeats in five matches against them this season would certainly support that assertion.
Newcastle United CEO David Hopkinson
Pep loses cool at St James’ Park again
Back in November, Guardiola lost his cool at St James’ Park at full-time and got involved in an altercation with a Sky Sports camera operator. And he saw red again on Saturday as he took exception to a decision not to award a free-kick for a Kieran Trippier challenge on Jeremy Doku.
Guardiola was enraged on the touchline and raced over to fourth official Lewis Smith and screamed in his face while throwing his arms around incessantly.
Referee Sam Barrott was not impressed and issued Guardiola a yellow card. After the game, Guardiola insisted he would always defend his players.
“When Jeremy Doku dribbles Trippier and goes alone to the box and is being pulled from behind, I’m not asking for a yellow card but it’s a foul,” Guardiola said in his post-match press conference.
“I will defend my team. I will tell you something – we have all the records in this country, all of them, despite everything. We have the record of the manager with the most yellow cards. I want all records and now I have it. Two game ban now and I will go on holidays the next two games.
“Oh my god. Oh my god. There are things after 10 years I cannot understand. Review the action. Of course I’m going to defend Doku and all my teams. They continue to do it.”
It was a ridiculously over the top reaction to a fairly inoffensive decision. It is the second time this season where his conduct was not a good look at St James’ Park. Guardiola has now picked up a two game ban for his troubles.
Marmoush Newcastle’s kryptonite
Marmoush scored twice to take the game away from Newcastle and the Egypt international’s goalscoring record against the Magpies is simply incredible.
He now has scored seven goals in five appearances against United, with 50% of his total goals for the club now coming against Newcastle.
Omar Marmoush (left) celebrates scoring for Manchester City(Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
Tino’s timely return
If there are any positives to cling to, the return of Tino Livramento after a two-month injury absence was one of them.
The England international came on as a second half substitute and after a long stint where 35-year-old Kieran Trippier has been the only fit and available right-back, Livramento’s return is timely with a two-legged Champions League tie against Barcelona and huge Premier League matches against Chelsea and Sunderland coming up in the next fortnight.
Howe talked about needing to manage him carefully but it could be that the returning star starts one of the next two games.
Newcastle United defender Tino Livramento arrives ahead of the FA Cup fifth round clash vs Man City(Image: Iain Buist/Chronicle Live)
One last dance?
Man City have now knocked Newcastle out in the League Cup semi-finals and the FA Cup fifth round this term. The only two previous teams to eliminate the Magpies from both the League Cup and FA Cup in a season are Wimbledon in 1987/88 and Arsenal in 2007/08.
The Magpies will be happy to have seen the back of Man City for this season, having now played them five times. Although, the only way they could face each other again this campaign would be in the Champions League final. Perhaps one last dance wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all!
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