Man City vs Newcastle result, score from Premier League as Alvarez and Foden dazzle for champions

Dom Farrell

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Man City vs Newcastle result, score from Premier League as Alvarez and Foden dazzle for champions image

Julian Alvarez fired Manchester City to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Newcastle United at Etihad Stadium.

A long-term hamstring injury to Kevin De Bruyne has created an opportunity in the attacking positions behind Erling Haaland in Pep Guardiola's team, and Alvarez took his chance after half an hour of patient but fruitless dominance from the champions.

A wonderful touch by Phil Foden on the end of Mateo Kovacic's slide-rule pass allowed him to tee Alvarez up for an emphatic finish across Nick Pope.

Foden dazzled throughout in an advanced central midfield position and combined excellently with Haaland, only for last season's Golden Boot winner to endure an off-night in front of goal.

What City occasionally lacked in cutting edge they more than made up for with their customary control, with Newcastle forced to feed off scraps.

Josko Gvardiol repaid a chunk of his £77.5 million transfer fee with a vital challenge on substitute Callum Wilson after Rodri was bundled out of possession by Miguel Almiron and there were no further sights of Ederson's goal, with City completing a celebratory week having claimed the UEFA Super Cup with a penalty shootout win over Sevilla.

Man City vs Newcastle final score

  Result Goalscorers
Man City 1 Alvarez (31)
Newcastle 0  

Lineups:

Man City: (4-4-2, right to left): 31. Ederson (GK) — 2. Kyle Walker, 25. Manuel Akanji, 3. Ruben Dias, 24. Josko Gvardiol — 47. Phil Foden, 16. Rodri, 8. Mateo Kovacic, 10 Jack Grealish — 9, Erling Haaland, 19. Julian Alvarez

Newcastle:(4-3-3, right to left): 22. Nick Pope (GK) — 2. Kieran Trippier, 4. Sven Botman, 5. Fabian Schar, 33. Dan Burn — 8. Sandro Tonali (32. Elliot Anderson), 39. Bruno Guimaraes, 7. Joelinton (36. Sean Longstaff) — 24. Miguel Almiron (21. Tino Livramento), 14. Alexander Isak (9. Callum Wilson), 10. Anthony Gordon (15. Harvey Barnes)

Alvarez and Foden provide De Bruyne solution

Guardiola’s City are often referred to as a machine. At times on Saturday, his creation looked a bit like Frankenstein’s Monster, as Manuel Akanji roved into midfield from centre-back and Kyle Walker pelted up and down the right flank. It wasn’t always pretty in the initial stages – apart from when Mateo Kovacic was in possession because the Croatia midfielder only does pretty — but it served a purpose. Walker and Akanji were occupying spaces that allowed Foden and Alvarez to get close to Haaland.

With De Bruyne set to be stricken for around four months, City are not going to look the same. But as Alvarez rifled home his fantastic strike and Foden blossomed from that assist — one of seven chances he created in an electrifying display — it was safe to say the plan had worked. The prospect of Foden being City’s main creative force over the first half of the season is an exciting one for City and England.

City bench highlights Guardiola’s transfer need

Despite playing 90 minutes in sweltering heat in midweek, Guardiola did not turn to his bench at all to close out the Newcastle game. He likes to work with a small squad — last season’s treble arrived thanks to the efforts of 17 senior outfield players during the second half of the season — but the injury to De Bruyne, less serious setbacks for Bernardo Silva and John Stones, and the summer departures of Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan have left things close to an early-season breaking point.

Guardiola spoke before the game about his team having problems and joined them on a lap of honour afterwards. In the greater scheme of things, everything is rosy in the garden for Europe’s dominant team but the manager is clearly trying to wring everything out of what he has at his disposal right now and this win meant an awful lot.

It is a damning indictment of Kalvin Phillips’ standing with Guardiola that he was not brought on to see the game out. Alongside the England midfielder on the bench was Nathan Ake and a cluster of youngsters. You sense that transfer speculation linking City to RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo and Rennes’ Jeremy Doku are matters Guardiola would like to come to fruition over the next week if they are to successfully defend trophies on all fronts.

Man City vs Newcastle live updates, highlights, and commentary

Full-time: All things considered, despite the slender margin of victory, that was very impressive from City. Guardiola clearly enjoyed it too as he joins his players on a lap of honour around the Etihad Stadium. This is also a celebration of their treble heroes for fans, but it's also an indication that Guardiola's famous intensity is not about to drop at all. Phil Foden's laughing at his manager now, which is fair enough. Thanks for joining us this evening.

90th minute+3: As we approach the midway point of five additional minutes, City pop the ball around and Kovacic wins a free-kick. It's not been easy for Guardiola's men but they're almost there. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Foden is announced as man of the match inside the stadium. He's been a delight.

89th minute: Roles reversed as Haaland finds Foden. Burn holds his position well to force him wide and the shot trickles across the face of goal.

88th minute: Room for City and Newcastle look to press forward and Alvarez finds Foden. He cuts inside looking for the goal his endeavours deserve but the shot is blocked. Walker was bombing forward on the overlap there like a competitor in tonight's 100m heats in Budapest.

87th minute: Tino Livramento is on for his Newcastle debut. Can he help to force a draw?

82nd minute: City settling into one of those long, squeezing periods of possession until Kovacic errs and gives away a free-kick in the centre circle.

78th minute: Still no changes from Guardiola and, as Grealish comes back to tackle Almiron, you wonder if the champions are looking a little bit leggy. Almiron shoots and there's Grealish again. Foden breaks, beats Burn and looks to play Haaland in, only for Schar to intervene.

71st minute: Guimaraes flattens Foden and is booked.

70th minute: Sloppy from Rodri, who is hustled out of possession by Almiron. Wilson has a two on one in his favour and Gvardiol produces an ice-cool piece of defending. Barnes on the follow-up and he curls a shot into Ederson's chest.

67th minute: Newcastle respond with an attack down the City left. The ball breaks to Guimaraes, who scuffs his shot horribly.

65th minute: This is a bit like the two best kids in the playground versus Newcastle at the moment. Foden again, dribbling and revelling in his central position. Haaland collects the pass and shoots on his right foot. It's on target this time and Pope stands firm.

63rd minute: The Foden-Haaland combination ignites again and, once again, the striker doesn't hold up his end of the bargain with an ungainly touch and a finish that bobbles wide. But Foden is absolutely revelling in the De Bruyne role.

59th minute: Lovely movement and creativity from Foden, who slips in another pass to Haaland. Once again he can't quite bring it under his spell and Botman makes a very good challenge.

55th minute: Joelinton looks to have injured himself in that tackle on Foden. Gordon is coming off, with Harvey Barnes into the fray before the England Under-21 international risks anything else silly. Sean Longstaff will replace Joelinton.

53rd minute: Gordon running at the City defence again. He's started this half very brightly. Dias makes an excellent sliding challenge. Oh, hang on. Gordon catches Dias trying to retrieve the ball. He's already been booked, remember. Joelinton then makes a comedically late lunge on Foden and is booked. That might have done his teammate a favour.

52nd minute: Alvarez actually ended up taking it and booted it straight to Pope with no City players around to challenge. He probably won't get the next one.

51st minute: Grealish is pretty annoyed not to get a free-kick from a challenge by Trippier. Newcastle look to break but Ederson dashes out to make a headed clearance 35 yards from his own goalline. He's having lovely time. Alvarez is fouled by Burn and limps towards the box for the free-kick.

49th minute: Ederson releases that brief spell of pressure by pumping one long. Haaland gets a shot away and Pope saves.

48th minute: Newcastle clearly don't want to spend this half camped in their own territory. Gordon cuts inside but his shot hits Joelinton as his teammate joins the attack.

47th minute: Enterprising start to the second half for Newcastle and strangled appeals for a penalty as Rodri bundles into the back of Isak. If Trippier hadn't been offside in the build-up there they might have had a case.

46th minute: Off we go again. No changes for either side. It'll be interesting to see what Guardiola does with his bench if he uses it. There's a lot of academy talent on there picking up the slack with Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Bernardo Silva all absent.

Halftime: An authoritative display from City, who haven't created much but lead through a moment of high quality from Alvarez. Gordon's half-chance at the end showed how Newcastle are very much still in this, though, and perhaps the hosts' midweek exertions in Greece will catch up with them.

45th minute+2: Trippier scoots down the City left and delivers an excellent cross. It finds Gordon at the far post, who elects to take a touch and Dias is able to wallop clear.

45th minute+1: There'll be three additional minutes.

44th minute: City player popping up in absurd positions much be an annoying thing to play against. Here's Kyle Walker storming through midfield like a prime Yaya Toure. Guardiola's men win a corner but can't make anything of it.

41st minute: A ludicrously good pass from Ederson gets City into a dangerous spot in the Newcastle half. Foden slips in Haaland, whose shot across goal beats Pope but is also beyond the far upright.

38th minute: Trippier's legs are taking a hammering from Grealish shots. He's just slapped another one against his England colleague, cutting in from the left.

37th minute: Almiron has a cross blocked but we're having a look at a possible handball in the City box. The VAR absolves Kovacic and Akanji of any wrongdoing.

33rd minute: Tonali brings down a scampering, marauding Foden to earn the yellowest of yellow cards.

31st minute: GOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!! Julian Alvarez!!!

It was starting to look like it would need something special against this Newcastle defensive effort and that's what City have produced. Foden brings the ball under his spell down the right and picks out Alvarez. The first touch is excellent and the second is a venomous finish beyond Pope from 15 yards.

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29th minute: Grealish tries to fashion some room. The ball eventually drops to Kovacic and Joelinton makes the block. All hands to the pump for Newcastle.

28th minute: Foden springs into space down the inside left channel and aims a low cross towards Haaland. Botman makes a vital clearance.

27th minute: Grealish's pass is a bit too heavy for Alvarez, who lunges and just can't poke it through to Haaland. City in control but lacking the precision they need. A case in point, Walker gets around the back but can only hoick a bouncing ball into the side netting.

24th minute: A painful one for Ruben Dias as Anthony Gordon slightly petulantly rakes his studs down the Portugal defender's calf. It's a deserved booking.

21st minute: A couple of encouraging moments for Newcastle. Isak dribbles and holds up play well. He lays it back to Almiron, who dummies for Joelinton to shoot. Gvardiol makes the block.

18th minute: Newcastle have been penned in but here's Gordon, who fashions some space outside Walker to cross. It's a dangerous low delivery towards Isak that Akanji clears behind. City deal with the corner.

14th minute: Walker pushes high down the right, Foden lays the ball back to Akanji. He shoots over from 25 yards. Not a bad effort but Newcastle will be happy enough with attacks ending like that.

12th minute: Foden slips a pass through for Haaland, who steps over it and runs wide. The striker can't sort his feet out for a return pass and it runs out of play, much to the amusement of the Newcastle fans behind the goal.

9th minute: Grealish cuts in to shoot but is met with a meaty block by his England teammate Trippier.

7th minute: Foden and Haaland try to thread the needle but are crowded out.

6th minute: Gvardiol wins out in a battle of the new signings with Tonali but his pass out is poor. Now Trippier down the City left but the offside flag goes up.

3rd minute: The Swiss international is going to soldier on, as you'd expect from a big hulking centre-back.

1st minute: Blue Moon booms around the arena and we're off. And a worry for Newcastle straight away as Schar goes down heavily after an aerial challenge with Haaland.

5 mins from kickoff: The players are in the tunnel. The treble trophies are pitch side and there's a big sky blue banner to celebrate the achievements of Pep Guardiola's side. Can Newcastle spoil the party?

20 minutes from kickoff: These sides met in August last season and a repeat of the entertainment value on offer that afternoon would be very welcome. Ilkay Gundogan gave City an early lead before Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier opened up a 3-1 advantage for the hosts at St James’ Park. Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva hit back to ensure a share of the spoils.

Getty Images

 

55 minutes from kick off: And here's how the visitors line up at the Etihad this evening. 

1 hour from kickoff: Here are the teams, starting with hosts Manchester City as manager Pep Guardiola makes a number of changes following their UEFA Super Cup win over Sevilla in midweek. 

1 hr 20 mins from kickoff: To temper any excitement around Newcastle’s chances, their record on this ground is absolutely awful. And that’s probably being kind. They have never won in 18 Premier League trips to the Etihad Stadium, losing 16 of those matches. That’s the most visits to any venue without winning in Premier League history, although the Magpies did triumph in east Manchester in the League Cup in 2014. Their most recent away league win against City came when Alan Shearer scored the only goal at Maine Road in September 2000.

1 hr 40 mins from kickoff: Here we are then. Oil Clasico, El Cashico, or whatever else you want to call it. I’m sure your joke is boldly original and utterly hilarious. The main thing is it looks like we have a proper game of football in prospect. City won their opener at Burnely and lifted the UEFA Super Cup after being taken to penalties in midweek but there are few indications of Pep Guardiola’s team firing on all cylinders yet.

Getty Images

Throw in an absentee list featuring Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and John Stones and the fact City are yet to secure like-for-like replacements for departed duo Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan and you can make a case for Newcastle fancying their chances on the back of last weekend’s rollicking 5-1 win over Aston Villa. 

2 hours to kickoff: Hello and welcome to the Sporting News' live coverage of Manchester City vs Newcastle in the Premier League.

Man City vs Newcastle lineups, team news

Guardiola will be without captain Kevin De Bruyne for at least three months after the Belgium international underwent hamstring surgery. Bernardo Silva missed the UEFA Super Cup win through illness and Guardiola expects him to rejoin the squad next week. 

Julian Alvarez was restricted to a short cameo against Sevilla due to a minor niggle. John Stones (hamstring) will miss out but defensive colleague Ruben Dias could return after sitting out the past two games with concussion.

Man City lineup (4-4-2): Ederson (GK) — Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol — Foden, Rodri, Kovacic, Grealish — Haaland, Alvarez

Howe will have few reasons to change following the hammering of Villa last time out. Joe Willock and Emil Krafth remain sidelined though injury, while Harvey Barnes may also miss out on a starting spot despite scoring off the bench on his debut.

Newcastle United lineup (4-3-3): Pope (GK) — Trippier, Botman, Schar, Burn — Tonali, Guimaraes, Joelinton — Almiron, Isak, Gordon

MORE: Watch Premier League matches live with Fubo in USA

Man City vs Newcastle United live stream, TV channel

Here's how to watch this Premier League match across selected areas of the world's major regions:

Region TV Streaming
USA — Peacock
Canada —

Fubo Canada
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Australia — Optus Sport
India — Hotstar VIP,
JioTV
Hong Kong Now Premier League (Ch.620-621) Now TV
Malaysia Astro SuperSport Astro Go, sooka
Singapore Hub Premier 1 (Ch.221) StarHub TV+
New Zealand — Sky Sport NOW

UK: This match is available on TNT Sports' streaming and TV platforms.

USA: This fixture is available to stream via Peacock.

Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streamed exclusively via Fubo in Canada.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.