Bruno Guimaraes buried his head in his hands as the Newcastle United captain stood in front of the sparse away end at full-time. This was the latest painful chapter in an all too familiar tale for the Magpies: defeat at the Etihad.
Should this 4-0 hammering even have come as a surprise? There were some Newcastle fans present who were not even born when the visitors last got a draw here nearly 19 years ago. You have to go back further, to 2000, for Newcastle’s last league victory in these parts. For context, Manchester City played at a different ground at the time.
However, there is a reason why thousands of Geordies travelled with justified optimism on Saturday. Rather than being burdened by history, Newcastle have planted a flag at the Emirates, Old Trafford and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the last six weeks alone. Whatever the result, Newcastle would at least do themselves justice against the champions. Surely?
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These sides were level on points going into this game, after all, but you would not have known it. Not by the way Omar Marmoush scored a quickfire hat-trick in the first half. Not by the way Manchester City were able to complete a whopping 92% of their passes. Not by the way Pep Guardiola’s team won more duels than the passive Magpies.
Bruno was among those big-name players who failed to stamp his authority on the game and the Newcastle captain labelled the visitors’ performance a ‘shambles’. “We cannot think we are high stars because we have got to a final,” he told NUFC TV. “We have to work hard every day. Our biggest strength is working hard. Today we were very lazy.”
Bruno did not hold back in the dressing room after the game, either, as he told those around him that when they don’t work hard, ‘things like that are going to happen’, and Newcastle can’t afford to play like this against high-flying Nottingham Forest in seven days’ time – let alone versus Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final next month. It was the latest jolt for a side who have now suffered bruising league defeats against Fulham, Bournemouth and Manchester City in recent weeks.
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Manchester City had supposed vulnerabilities to exploit yet it said it all that substitute Lewis Miley had Newcastle’s one and only shot on target. The fearless youngster, damningly, offered more in a second-half cameo than many of his senior team-mates did from the off. This was not the performance of a side who aspire to one day be an elite outfit. Even Eddie Howe called it a ‘painful watch’.
“We have to embrace these challenges much better than we did,” the Newcastle boss admitted. “Because we want to get to a place where we can compete and go toe-to-toe against any team in the Premier League. We have tried to do that with our approach, but I don’t think we looked anywhere near as competitive as we want to be or we have been previously.
“We have lost games here, but the games have looked slightly different. Today was definitely a step back in that respect.”
Eddie Howe the manager of Newcastle United looks dejected after the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Newcastle United FC
To think there were nerves around the Etihad before this game. Manchester City, who had lost 12 of their previous 24 games in all competitions, had conceded inside three minutes in each of their previous two league matches yet Newcastle dropped off and allowed the champions to settle and dominate 90% of possession in the opening stages. That passive start proved costly.
Ederson may as well be an outfielder, given how good the Manchester City goalkeeper is with his feet, but the Brazilian was allowed to dribble outside his area in the 19th minute. By the time Alexander Isak eventually jogged across, Ederson had all the time he needed to ping a diagonal over the top of Newcastle’s ragged defensive line and play Omar Marmoush in after Kieran Trippier badly misjudged the flight of the ball. Marmoush still had work to do, but the forward expertly lobbed Martin Dubravka after the Newcastle ‘keeper rushed off his line.
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This game had been billed as a showdown between Alexander Isak and Erling Haaland, but it was Marmoush who ended up stealing the show and the mid-season arrival helped himself to a second just a few minutes later. Meek Newcastle again backed off and Ilkay Gundogan was allowed to carry the ball forward deep into the Magpies’ half. Gundogan slipped the ball through for Marmoush who cut inside the sliding Trippier and fired past Dubavka at the near post.
A furious Trippier slapped the turf in frustration before getting to his feet and rollicking his team-mates for not getting tight enough to Gundogan in the build-up. Trippier had a point. When Newcastle actually got in Manchester City’s faces at 2-0 down, as Jacob Murphy did when he dispossessed Nico Gonzalez, the Magpies created an opening for Isak, whose effort was deflected behind for a corner. Yet that was as close as Newcastle ultimately came to scoring in the first half.
Manchester City, in contrast, were made to look the side of old whenever the champions poured forward and the hosts grabbed a third after the half-hour mark. Newcastle were taken apart far too easily once again after Savinho skipped past Lewis Hall down the right and pulled the ball across the box. There was the unmarked Marmoush to make it 3-0 with a first-time finish after Newcastle failed to pick the Manchester City dangerman up.
Omar Marmoush caused Newcastle United huge problems
Omar Marmoush caused Newcastle United huge problems (Image: 2025 Simon Stacpoole/Offside)
Newcastle had long needed a half-time reshuffle even before Marmoush’s third. Howe duly hauled off Trippier and Joe Willock at the break and threw on Tino Livramento and Lewis Miley. It was Miley who ended up forcing Ederson into his one and only save of the afternoon after stinging the Manchester City goalkeeper’s gloves before the hour mark.
In truth, there was no chance of a dramatic comeback and it was Manchester City who scored a fourth late on when Gundogan’s corner was flicked on by Erling Haaland at the near post. There was substitute James McAtee to volley home.
By that stage, there was no on-the-field inquest; Newcastle players marched back to the centre circle for the restart with their heads bowed. They had long been resigned to their fate.
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