“He has done a top class job,” said Guardiola, whose champions were 3-1 down at one point. “You can see his team growing. Newcastle has it all. they have rhythm, they have quality. “They made it very physical, it’s a very difficult place to come. We started really well but Newcastle were so aggressive that we were out of control. Newcastle are becoming one of the toughest opponents but we created a lot of chances and in the end we showed who we are.” On an afternoon where City’s defensive vulnerabilities were highlighted with John Stones in particular struggling in the centre, Erling Haaland, who scored his side’s second goal, the increasingly influential Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva, the goalscorer of the final goal, they were finally saved. a point. City could have won had the VAR review not overturned the straight red card shown to Newcastle captain Kieran Trippier for a high challenge on De Bruyne, but Guardiola refused to be drawn into an incident he claimed was “not watch”. Instead, the City manager, whose side had taken an early lead through Ilkay Gundogan before Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson and Trippier put Newcastle 3-1 up, preferred to praise the performances of French winger Allan Saint-Maximin and England. goalkeeper Nick Pope. “Saint Maximin was so good,” Guardiola said. “It’s a difficult weapon.” Howe, who had missed eight meetings with Guardiola while in charge of Bournemouth and two at Newcastle last season, was all smiles. “Hopefully this is a glimpse into the future for Newcastle United,” he said. “We’re a little disappointed not to win, but the positives far outweigh the negatives. “It was Maxi’s best performance since I’ve managed him. He was electric. He got every aspect of the game right and gave us a whole different dimension. The challenge for Maxi now is that he can do it every week.” Howe admitted Trippier’s non-red card was “a massive turning point” but did not think the challenge merited a sending off. “We’ve been down on our luck at times but, for where I want to go, I don’t see any point in sitting deep against the top teams. The top teams are aggressive and brave, so that’s the approach we need as well.”
