On the evening of September 28, Man City traveled to Newcastle's home ground with many worries as they had just lost Rodri to a long-term injury.
Coach Pep Guardiola also surprised when he chose Ilkay Gundogan to start instead of Phil Foden. By arranging Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish on the two wings, Pep showed a clear intention to keep the ball at all costs.
However, Rodri's absence still shows a big impact that The Citizens cannot overcome immediately. They attacked more deadlockedlyly, unable to hold the midfield despite arranging the duo Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic to coordinate.
In the 33rd minute, Grealish passed Trippier and passed the ball to Gvardiol who was in the penalty area. The Croatian defender had a beautiful curler to open the score for Man City. However, this was just a moment of improvisation, not the result of convincing play, because after that The Citizens continued to face many difficulties against Newcastle.
In the 57th minute, goalkeeper Ederson fouled Gordon in the penalty area, Newcastle was awarded a penalty. On the 11m mark, Gordon fools Ederson and equalizes for the home team.
Immediately after that, Pep Guardiola sent Foden, Doku and Savinho onto the field to create a breakthrough. The pressure increased significantly and clear opportunities were created in the last 20 minutes of the match, but Haaland and Silva both missed.
In the end, Man City shared points with Newcastle after a 1-1 draw. They are still top of the table but could be overtaken by Liverpool and Aston Villa if these two teams win in round 6.
