Newcastle United won their sixth successive game at St James’ Park by beating Premier League (PL) title challengers Manchester City 2-1 on Tyneside, denying Pep Guardiola’s men the chance to move within a point of leaders Arsenal.
Key stats
– Newcastle have beaten Man City for the first time in the Premier League since 29th January 2019, a run of 12 games without a win.
– Erling Haaland had five shots without finding the net in this game, last having as many without scoring for Man City in November 2024 v Tottenham (seven shots, 0 goals).
– The first half saw seven big chances (four Newcastle, three Man City) and 2.59 xG (1.18 Newcastle, 1.41 Man City). It’s the most big chances on record (from 2010-11) and second-highest non-pen xG on record (from 2012-13) in a goalless Premier League first half.
Highlights
Man of the Match Harvey Barnes shone for Newcastle and received the highest Flashscore rating of the game. He also became the first Newcastle player to score twice in a Premier League game against Man City since Alan Shearer in November 2003, with this match being their 40th meeting in the competition since then.
Match report
Despite ceding the lion’s share of possession to Man City throughout the first half, Newcastle looked happy to defend with a focus on exploiting the space available on the counter-attack in an entertaining first half.
Jacob Murphy created the first clear-cut chance of the game as his inswinging cross perfectly picked out Nick Woltemade, but the German’s header was straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma, allowing the Italian keeper to make a sharp reflex save.
