Newcastle 0-2 Man City: Champions kick off with Magpies win
- adamhigginsuk
- Aug 17, 2014
- 8 min read
For starters: David Silva notched the breakthrough goal against Newcastle on the opening day for the second successive season (Picture from News168.com)
MANCHESTER CITY made a winning start to their Premier League title defence with an assured victory over a new-look Newcastle United.
The energetic Magpies, with four debutants in their side, were lively throughout but rarely troubled the visitors in front of goal.
David Silva opened the scoring with a composed finish seven minutes before half-time after being freed by a sublime Edin Dzeko backheel.
Substitute Ayoze Perez, another new face for Newcastle, went close with a deflected effort late on prior to Sergio Aguero’s stoppage-time clincher.
It gave the reigning champions a perfect start to the new season at St James's Park as City seek to successfully hold onto the trophy they failed to retain after their previous title triumph in 2012.
Manuel Pellegrini's side start as second favourites to Chelsea, who face Burnley on Monday, in the championship race but a tenth straight league win over Newcastle will be the ideal tonic to send out a statement of intent after last weekend's dismantling by Arsenal in the Community Shield.
Following a disappointing conclusion to last season which resulted in a tenth-placed finish, the outlook was bright for Magpies boss Alan Pardew, who has targeted a 48-point haul, at the start of what should be a more encouraging campaign on Tyneside.
? DID YOU KNOW ?
The Magpies have not beaten City in any of their last 17 meetings in all competitions, stretching back to September 2005.
Both sides ended 2013-14 in vastly contrasting form with the Toon Army having lost seven of their last eight games while the Citizens won their final five matches to clinch a second title in three years.
Pellegrini, who guided City to a 4-0 win over Newcastle in his first game in charge a year ago, rang the changes from the weakened side fielded at Wembley last Sunday.
Joe Hart was favoured to summer capture Willy Caballero in goal with captain Vincent Kompany and Argentine Martin Demichelis returning at centre-back while David Silva was preferred to Jesus Navas in midfield, where £12 million signing Fernando made his Premier League debut.
Gael Clichy again filled in as a makeshift right-back with Bacary Sagna left out of the squad alongside fellow arrivals Frank Lampard and Eliaquim Mangala, who are still working towards full fitness, but Sergio Aguero was on the bench after recovering from a groin problem.
Newcastle gave Dutch full-back Daryl Janmaat, former Sunderland midfielder Jack Colback and Frenchmen Remy Cabella and Emmanuel Riviere their first competitive outings.
But their most anticipated acquisition Siem de Jong headed a lengthy injury list which included regular starters Cheikh Tiote and Davide Santon as well as Papiss Demba Cisse and Ryan Taylor.
Paying their respects: Family, club legends and the two team captains laid wreaths on the pitch before kick-off (Picture by Adam Higgins)
Prior to kick-off, tributes were paid to Newcastle supporters Liam Sweeney and John Alder, who were tragically killed on board the Malaysian airline in Ukraine exactly a month ago whilst following the team on their pre-season tour of New Zealand.
Legendary Sunderland keeper Jimmy Montgomery and Black Cats fan Gary Ferguson assisted family, friends and the two club captains Kompany and Fabricio Coloccini in carrying wreaths onto the pitch before a minute’s silence was impeccably observed.
NEWCASTLE MATCH FACTS:
Newcastle have now lost 12 of their 16 Premier League games since the start of February.
Newcastle lost for the first time in their last 10 opening home matches to a league campaign.
City have scored at least twice in 13 of their last 14 matches against Newcastle, who have now failed to net in their last four Premier League games against Pellegrini's side.
Newcastle have failed to score in their opening game in four of their five seasons since returning to the top flight.
The Magpies sought to channel the emotion with a high octane start in front of a packed stadium and buoyant home crowd.
But Dzeko, who scored on both of City’s visits to St James's Park in league and cup last season, managed to edge away from Mike Williamson and poked tamely at the frame of Tim Krul from Fernando's lofted pass forward in the third minute.
Both sides imposed their varying styles in the early exchanges as the action ebbed and flowed at an invigorating tempo.
Newcastle looked to pressurise the champions and push forward quickly with City opting for a measured approach of patience and possession.
The visitors were first to significantly threaten when a stinging 22-yard drive from Samir Nasri was parried away by Dutch stopper Krul after 10 minutes.
At the other end, Cabella attempted an audacious lobbed effort from the edge of the box, which dropped a few inches over the crossbar.
Fresh face: Cabella signed a six-year deal with Newcastle after signing from Montpellier for an undisclosed fee (Picture by Adam Higgins)
Riviere, taking the responsibility of leading the line following the departure of last season’s 14-goal top scorer Loic Remy, dragged another shot harmlessly wide of the target after escaping the attentions of Fernando.
The Magpies competed well and grew in confidence, remaining defensively solid while showing a willingness to attack steadily.
Riviere found space in behind in the left channel but skewed a cross-cum-shot wide of the far post with the outside of his right boot as he advanced towards the area.
Although enjoying plenty of the ball, City often lacked invention and were unable to fashion many openings in the first half.
But they conjured a moment of quality to break the deadlock on 38 minutes as Dzeko controlled Yaya Toure's floated pass and flicked the ball to the onrushing David Silva, who kept his composure to slot his side's first goal of the season underneath the body of Krul.
Breakthrough: Silva celebrated with his team-mates after opening his scoring account for the campaign (Picture by Adam Higgins)
It gave City a platform to build upon and things could have been rosier shortly before half-time had Nasri been able to pick out Stefan Jovetic at the back post after Paul Dummett was caught out by the Frenchman's run.
Seeking a positive response, the hosts begun brightly after the restart and came close to levelling matters within four minutes.
Yoann Gouffran peeled away at the back post from a Jack Colback corner and was denied by Joe Hart from a tight angle before Silva blocked the second ball.
Cabella was then challenged in the nick of time by a combination of Fernando and Kompany when Riviere prodded the ball between the two City centre-backs.
City were a dynamic proposition when pressing forward with Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov bombing forward at every opportunity.
MANCHESTER CITY: MATCH STATS
It was a familiar scoreline in this fixture after City won 2-0 in a Capital One Cup tie last October and in the Premier League in January. They also claimed a two-goal victory in their penultimate league match in the 2011/12 campaign which all but clinched the title.
Manchester City have now won five of their last six opening Premier League matches to a new season since their last defeat (4-2 by Aston Villa in August 2008).
The Citizens began last term with just two wins from their first eight away Premier League games but only Liverpool and Arsenal claimed more points on the road in the end.
David Silva's last four goals for Manchester City have all come away from home while it was the Spaniard's first goal in his last nine appearances for City.
Sergio Aguero has scored 18 and assisted six goals in his last 24 Premier League appearances.
Jovetic, who scored five goals during a patchy pre-season for City, drilled a low shot wide from 20 yards before ballooning into orbit from a similar position minutes later.
The Montenegro international continued to make elusive runs to stretch the Newcastle defence as Coloccini blocked his route to goal after latching onto a Kompany clearance out of defence.
As the contest opened up, City became increasingly menacing as an attacking force with Dzeko guiding Jovetic’s scooped centre onto the roof of the net from six yards.
Man at the top: Magpies owner Mike Ashley was in attendance at St James's Park to watch his side in action (Picture by Adam Higgins)
Newcastle made much of the running in their quest for an equaliser as Dummett nodded over from close range after Hart failed to connect with Gouffran’s free-kick before former Manchester United winger Gabriel Obertan replaced the ailing Vurnon Anita.
Roland Aarons also made an entrance as Pardew altered his system in a bid to match up with the champions, who showed their potential to find another gear with Yaya Toure curling a free-kick inches over from 22 yards.
? DID YOU KNOW ?
No defending Premier League champions have ever lost their opening game of the following season (winning 20 and drawing three).
Exciting prospect: Perez came off the bench for his Newcastle debut after the 20-year-old's move from Spain for £1.5 million (Picture by Adam Higgins)
It was another Newcastle substitute that almost salvaged their hopes as Spanish debutant Ayoze Perez, who scored 16 goals for Tenerife last season, jinked inside and fired a shot which took a vital deflection off Fernando to take it beyond the far post.
As the end of regulation time approached, Moussa Sissoko thrashed a left-foot shot over the bar following good build-up play involving Aarons down the left.
However, the late rally was extinguished when Aguero landed the killer blow in the second minute of stoppage time.
The World Cup finalist, just minutes after stepping off the bench to replace Dzeko, stroked home the loose ball after his initial piledriver was blocked at the near post by Krul.
The result was harsh on a Newcastle side who contributed much but City start as they mean to go on and the three points will provide a boost ahead of the showdown with Liverpool on Monday week.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire) - 9/10
Assistant referees: Stephen Child and Mike Mullarkey
Fourth Official: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)
Attendance: 50,816
Match facts (top) and Passing breakdown statistics (bottom) courtesy of Sky Sports (Pictures by Adam Higgins)
MANAGER & PLAYER REACTION:
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew
"It was frustrating for us. In the second half we pushed on and brought some younger players on. It was a shame we couldn't get the equaliser [before Aguero's late second for City]. I felt that if we got that we could even have gone on to win it. We were brave and went for it, but we pushed and you know with their [City's] quality they can get that second goal. We have goals in the squad. We were a bit unfortunate today not to get something from the game but it was a real solid performance from the team against real quality. In the end, the quality just won. Our fans are good judges and I think they've seen enough to believe we're going to give it a real good go this season. I'm kind of pleased in a way - even though we lost - that we have got a good structure to the team and good fitness in the team."
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini
"It's always important to start the season winning, especially at a place like St James' Park. It was so important for me to have the attitude from the players right from the beginning to the end of the game. The players were both hungry and humble. We need both those things if we are going to continue winning titles and if we want to improve on what we did last year. We didn't have any clean sheets in pre-season but we were very solid at the back and Joe Hart didn't have any problems. In the second half it was normal that we were starting to get tired. The players are not able to play 90 minutes at the moment but we continued with our attitude and scored the second goal."
Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko
"It's always good and important to start with a win. We knew this was going to be tough and we gave everything from the first minute and playing aggressively. In the end it was a well-deserved win. First games can be tough but we did it. We have our first three points and we have to look game to game."
Last updated: 17 August 2014
20:39pm
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