Man City booked their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals with a thrilling 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Newcastle on Saturday night.
In their fifth meeting of the season, Josep Guardiola secured his fourth win over Eddie Howe as the visitors overcame an early Newcastle storm to make a stunning comeback – despite making 10 changes in the fifth round draw.
Newcastle’s quick start saw Harvey Barnes fire home, but Sabinho sparked City’s response and leveled his team with a bizarre finish at the back post, before Omar Marmouche scored his second goal from close range at the start of the second half and then curled home a third to seal the winner.
It was an emphatic response to City’s Premier League draw at home to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. They still have four titles left, and the strength of depth, resilience and quality they show here should serve as a warning to anyone abandoning them.
Guardiola was furious on the sidelines and celebrated the third goal enthusiastically, now aiming to win the FA Cup for the third time. City discovered their top eight opponents in Monday night’s draw.
For Howe and Newcastle, it marks the end of City’s losing streak in cup competitions this season, following their Carabao Cup semi-final defeat. But there will be little time to reflect on the defeat as they host Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday. It’s another competition where we could potentially face City again. City face Real Madrid on Wednesday.
How City achieved the turnaround
In a tense first half, Newcastle took the lead, with Burns diving for a through ball from Sandro Tonali and firing it into the top corner, scoring his first goal in 13 games.
Harvey Barnes celebrates Newcastle’s goal against Man City
By then, City needed Nico Gonzalez to clear Nick Woltemade’s header on the goal line following a poor parry by James Trafford, but the visitors looked to be in danger as manager Guardiola made a number of changes.
However, they used their momentum admirably.
Sabinho started the game, but his equalizer was strange. Jeremy Doku fired a low cross into the six-yard box, Lewis Hall missed a clearance and Savinho simply poked the ball slowly over the line.
Sabinho celebrates Man City’s equalizer with John Stones in Newcastle
City should have taken the lead by the end of the first half as Tijani Lijnders had a big chance narrowly missed the far post, Nico O’Reilly failed to capitalize on an Aaron Ramsdale mistake and Sabinho had a close-range shot blocked by Hall.
However, they picked up where they left off at the start of the second half, completing the comeback with another cross through the six-yard box. This time, after another good throw from Sabinho, Marmouche connected with a low pass from Matheus Nunez.
The Egyptian scored twice against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup at the Etihad and repeated the trick here with a powerful finish from just outside the box.
There was still 25 minutes left in the game, but there was no turning back for Newcastle. When City are in this mood, they are a huge force.
Guardiola: “The best performance at Newcastle in my time”
Man City manager Josep Guardiola told TNT Sports: “We played very well! The first 20 minutes, as always happens in this stadium… But after that, when we told them, make a series of passes. Savio and Jeremy (Doc) in particular were very decisive.”
“The best performance we’ve played in this stadium in our time here together. It was really, really good.”
Mamouche: We showed our mentality
Man City’s Omar Marmouche on TNT Sports:
“It was a great performance. We showed our mentality and passion on the pitch, so I’m very happy to progress to the next round.”
“I’m very happy to be able to help the team achieve their goals and we will continue to move forward.”
Howe focuses on ‘biggest game’ against Barcelona
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe told TNT Sport:
“It was a good start from us. It was really good for 30 minutes. We didn’t maintain the level that we were playing in terms of energy and intensity, but they certainly responded.
“I have to say, I thought they played really well, so it’s a difficult game for us.
“I felt like we might have run out of gas. They are a very good team.
“The biggest game in the club’s history is coming up soon and we have to prepare the players for it.”
