MATCH REPORT AND PLAYER RATINGS - NEWCASTLE UNITED 1-0 MANCHESTER CITY

Image courtesy of mancity.com

Manchester City suffered their first defeat of the season, as a heavily rotated side lost narrowly to last year's beaten finalists Newcastle United at St James' Park in the Carabao Cup.

With both sides making a large number of changes, the game featured very few chances for either side, as City dominated the game for the entirety of the first half. However, without the focal point of Erling Haaland, or the creativity of Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden, City struggled to offer much going forwards.

Newcastle had the biggest chance of the first half, as a mistake when playing out from the back gave Jacob Murphy a 1 vs 1 opportunity with Stefan Ortega-Moreno. Thankfully, the 30 year old stood strong in goal, and made a solid save with his right foot.

With the introduction of key players Bruno Guimares and Anthony Gordon coming on at half time, Newcastle came flying out of the blocks, and scored shortly after the interval through Aleksander Isak.

The Swedish striker was in acres of space at the backpost following Joelinton's cross shot, and kept his composure to slam the ball past Rico Lewis on the goal line. Whilst the 18 year old could've perhaps done better at the backpost, he can hardly take the blame, as City could've stopped the move at plenty of earlier points in the move.

Other than a late shot Lewis shot from the outside of the box that whistled just past the post, City struggled to create in the second half, despite bringing on Phil Foden and new signings Matheus Nunes and Jeremy Doku.

The entirety of the second half was completely different, as Newcastle got the better of City in the majority of duels. The likes of Oscar Bobb, Mateo Kovacic and Sergio Gomez, who all had decent first halves, were unable to get their foot on the ball and influence the game as much in the second period.

The Blues will go again at the weekend away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, where they'll be without key midfielders Kevin de Bruyne and Rodri, with Bernardo Silva and John Stones both expected to be out due to injury.

However, there is more than enough talent within the squad to win convincingly at Molineux, before two tough away games against RB Leipzig and Arsenal.

Here are the player ratings from the 3rd round defeat to Newcastle:

Ortega-Moreno - 7/10 - Very little he could've done about the Newcastle goal. Other than that, he was remarkably quiet, other than making an excellent save from Murphy in the first half.

Lewis - 6.5/10 - Comfortable in possession, and impressed in the first half particularly. Dealt well with Anthony Gordon when he came on, with the only negative being he could've defended better for the goal.

Akanji - 7/10 - Defended well against a dangerous opponent in Isak, and looked very comfortable in a running race with him. Good to see him wear the captain's armband at one point as well.

Gvardiol - 7.5/10 - Aggressive and tenacious playing as the left sided centre back for the first time. Crisp with his passing, and defended very well in a 1 vs 1 situation against Isak in the first half.

Ake - 6.5/10 - A solid performance from Ake, who'd appear to be sixth in command in terms of captaincy in the squad. The Dutchman defended his flank well, but could've perhaps offered himself more often as an option for Jack Grealish on the left hand side.

Phillips - 5.5/10 - Started shakily, but picked himself up for about 30 minutes in the first half. Unfortunately after that point, the Englishman looked wobbly when put under pressure, and had his pocket picked numerous times. I really want Phillips to succeed at City, but he has a lot of work to do.

Bobb - 7.5/10 - A really impressive performance from the 20 year old, making his full senior debut. He has excellent awareness of what's going on around him, as shown by his technical dribbling and silky footwork.

Kovacic - 7/10 - On his return from injury, Kovacic looked like he'd never been away. He was the tempo setter in the first half, helping City build from the back. In the second half however, he was unable to get as much joy, which meant the whole team suffered from control perspective.

Gomez - 6.5/10 - Plying on the right wing, Gomez looked comfortable in possession and coming back to help Lewis defensively. However, he struggled to offer much of a creative threat going forwards.

Alvarez - 6/10 - A quiet game for the Argentinian. He had the best of City's chances, but failed to do anything with them. Hopefully, we'll see him partner Haaland up front again against Wolves on Saturday.

Grealish - 5.5/10 - Kept the ball well enough, but was unable to offer anything really going forwards, with young defender Tino Livramento playing one of the best games of his career to date. With Doku now applying pressure on his position, hopefully Grealish will up his game and become a crucial part of the City side again.

Substitutes:

Nunes - 6.5/10 - Offered a little bit of forward thinking action from midfield when he came on, but didn't have a huge amount of time to make a real difference.

Doku - 7.5/10 - Made a big impact on the game with a real burst of forward thinking energy from the bench. Hopefully, that performance from the bench will see him start on Saturday against Wolves.

Foden - 6.5/10 - Showed a few glimpses of quality off the bench, but was ultimately kept quiet by Newcastle's defence.