admin Manchester City were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Newcastle United on Wednesday night.
Pep Guardiola wants a performance with Manchester City’s DNA, something he can ‘recognise’. He should have been careful what he wished for.
For the third year in a row, City will not win the competition that has become synonymous with Guardiola’s reign. They lost 1-0 to Newcastle United, with Alexander Isak winning just after the break.
Yet despite the defeat, Guardiola got what he asked for. The Blues coach made it clear before the match that he would be forced to make changes, even if he really wanted to progress in the tournament. But more important than this victory was a performance he can be proud of, one that preserved the club’s identity.
That was not what he got last season when his side lost to Nathan Jones’s Southampton. A rare and poor performance cost them the chance of an unprecedented quadruple and which Guardiola admitted was the worst of his time at the club.
“What you want to try to do is not play poorly or not to our principles as a team, as happened against Southampton last season,” a- he declared before the match. “It was by far the worst game I’ve ever played in as City manager, so I don’t recognize anything about it.
“You can lose. Of course you can lose. All credit goes to Southampton in this game, but you have to be at the minimum, that’s all I want from my team in every game, tomorrow it will happen.”
The coach was the exact opposite, a performance that was almost too typical of Man City. Good or bad. In the first half, they were excellent. All the players Guardiola called on to His top star being able to rest shows they can step in for the bigger names when needed.
Stefan Ortega makes a vital save to keep Man City level, Sergio Gomez is a threat threatening on the right wing, Rico Lewis continued to play at the expected high level, Kalvin Phillips looked assured in his first start and Oscar Bob, well…
What a start. Making his first appearance as an attacking midfielder rather than on the right wing, where he came off the bench, the 20-year-old looked like he had been playing there all his life. His touches are intricate, his passes intelligent, his past trials woven with agility and elegance.
Bobb created City’s two best chances in the first half with sharp passes to Julian Alvarez, but they were not taken. In a stereotypical way. It was one of those days.
City controlled the ball 70% of the way in the first half and reduced the Magpies to just one pass in the final third after 35 minutes. An astonishing dominance they did not count on. Jacob Murphy had a golden opportunity to catch City and although it was blocked, it gave the home team confidence.
A few changes at half-time and they fired, this time leaving City with little to do in their third final. Phillips started carelessly with the ball, Gomez did not see him and the team was clearly shaken by the intensity of the players and spectators.
A goal in such a situation is not surprising. City appeared weak in the challenge and Lewis allowed a cross to be followed by Isak, who curled it into the net.
City huffed and puffed but still could only muster one more shot on target, even when the likes of Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku were introduced. The full-time whistle blew with City losing their first match of the season and their hopes of winning a quadruple over at the first step.
It wasn’t a bad display by any means. Nowhere near as bad as the defeat to Southampton. But it was worrying how classic of a defeat it was. A script everyone had read before. City looking flat and without cutting edge, unable to make their dominance count and being left with nothing to show for it.
Guardiola made it clear ahead of the match that upcoming games in the Champions League and Premier League, with Arsenal looming on the horizon, have to take priority. But winning breeds winning and the problem now will be ensuring the first loss doesn’t rock the side. At least several key players are to return on Saturday.
Guardiola got what he wished for. He wanted a recognisable City performance and that’s exactly what he got. He just didn’t count on the curl of the monkey’s paw.
