Toon Takeaways from Newcastle’s FA Cup exit vs. City

Newcastle United’s furthest FA Cup run in years ended with a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City. Fabian Schar fouled Gabriel Jesus in the box and Kevin De Brunye converted the penalty. Raheem Sterling doubled the lead in the second half.

Bruce Parks the Bus

While nobody should have expected a high-flying Newcastle United attack, the lack of anything going forward from the Magpies was eye-opening. Around the 25th minute, Newcastle hadn’t even completed 20 passes. I understand not wanting to expose your defense against a top-attacking side, but there was certainly a middle ground that Steve Bruce could’ve found.

Gayle’s Massive Miss

A Manchester City error on the backline finally gave NUFC a chance to score in the second half. Allan Saint-Maximin took possession and did well to get towards the end line and fired a lovely ball across to recently-subbed on Dwight Gayle. Simply needing to side-foot the ball in from close range, Gayle horribly missed the goal. It would’ve been a huge equalizer, but the miss was followed up shortly by Sterling putting the game on ice.

Decent Defensively

Absorbing endless pressure, especially in the first half, the Newcastle defense held up well. While City finished with 20 shots, the Magpies limited their angles and forced only four to go on frame. Danny Rose came up with some big plays on the backline.

Quick Kicks

• It wasn’t a shocking loss, but it was a disappointing display from Newcastle.
• Really silly foul from Schar to give up the penalty. An initial push wasn’t really necessary and to double up and push Jesus again was just careless. A goal likely would’ve came either way, but that was an unnecessary way to concede.
• He couldn’t save the penalty, but Karl Darlow was quality in goal. He made some big saves and was only beaten by a PK and a quality shot from Sterling.
• For the most part, Saint-Maximin was off his game on the ball, giving away possession too often.
• Isaac Hayden has been really good since the restart. Despite battling a knock from the midweek draw, he did his best to make an impact in the midfield.
• Andy Carroll did his best, isolated up top, but he seemed to get off his game due to the officiating. He ended up getting a yellow card on a late challenge and was constantly debating with referee Lee Mason.

What’s Next?

Back to Premier League play midweek as Newcastle United will face Bournemouth in their first away fixture of Project Restart.