Newcastle United’s FA Cup run came to an end after losing 2-0 to Manchester City.
The first half belonged to the away side with Pep Guardiola’s men dictating the game with 82% possession. The home side just could not get a foot on the ball. As the half went on the home side managed to weather the storm but desperately needed to get in at half time level.
But on the 36th-minute centre back Fabian Schar gave away a penalty after bringing down Gabriel Jesus. That led to Kevin De Bruyne putting his side 1-0 up from the spot.
The home side did improve in the second half as they looked for an equaliser. Their biggest moment fell to substitute Dwight Gayle. The striker found himself unmarked from a Saint-Maximin cross only to miss the target from six-yards out.
That proved decisive as within two minutes Raheem Sterling found the bottom corner to wrap the game up for Manchester City. The away side still managed to create more chances as Newcastle found it impossible to find a way back.
Next up for Newcastle is an away trip to relegation-threatened Bournemouth on Wednesday evening.
Player RatingsÂ
GK: Karl Darlow – 7Â
Surprising selection ahead of Dubravka. Made some good saves to stop Sterling early on. Had no chance with the penalty.
RB: Javier Manquillo – 5
Spent most of the evening chasing Raheem Sterling. Could not make an impact going forward.
CB: Fabian Schar – 4
An evening to forget for Schar. Gave away the penalty and was very sloppy in procession.
CB: Jamaal Lascelles – 5Â
Dug in deep this evening. The change to a back three did not seem to help.
CB: Federico Fernandez – 5
Not a great performance tonight. He was second best to almost every ball.
LB: Danny Rose – 6
Probably Newcastle’s best defender on the night. Looked solid down the left-hand side.
RM: Allan Saint-Maximin – 7
Always looked to dribble at his opponents at every given chance. He created the home side’s best chance of the game.
CM: Sean Longstaff – 5Â
Not the easiest game to make your comeback from injury. Game passed him by at times.
CM: Isaac Hayden – 4
Full of running but could not offer anything on either end of the pitch.
LM: Miguel Almiron – 4Â
Man City’s possession game led to very little for the winger.
ST: Andy Carroll – 5
A frustrating evening for the Geordie. Lack of service led to the striker receiving a yellow card after taking his frustration out on Laporte.
Substitutions – requires longer than 15 minutes to receive a rating*
Dwight Gayle ->Â Andy Carroll (64th minute) –Â 4
Missed the game-changing opportunity. Has to be scoring those chances.
Joelinton ->Â Miguel Almiron (65th minute) –Â 3
Sent on to make a change. Ended up hardly touching the ball
DeAndre Yedlin ->Â Allan Saint-Maximin (74th minute) –Â 4
Made a few blocks.
Valentino Lazaro ->Â Danny Rose (75 minute)Â – 4
Left with very little time to have any impact on the game.
Matty Longstaff ->Â Isaac Hayden (79th minute)Â – N/A*