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Season 2010-11
Manchester City (a) Premier League


In association
 with NUFC.com
 


Date:
Sunday 3rd October 2010, 1.30pm
Live on
ESPN

Venue:
 City of Manchester Stadium

Conditions:
mostly moist

Admission: £38 (£36 lower tier)  

Programme:
£3
shrink-wrapped - they must have had a long-range forecast...
 

Manchester
City

Newcastle
United

2 - 1

 

Teams

Goals

18 mins Mike Williamson's challenge on the advancing Carlos Tevez was deemed to be a foul - although the defender looked to make contact with the ball before his opponent and the first coming together was outside the area. Tevez then blasted the resultant spot kick past Tim Krul, with the 'keeper only able to deflect the ball high into the goal. 1-0

24 mins Jonas Gutierrez barged his way into the City box and collecting the ball off a Vincent Kompany rebound before shooting into the roof of Joe Hart's net. No Spiderman mask celebration though, replaced instead by some nimble (Argentinean Tango?) footwork in front of unappreciative home fans - a career on Strictly....beckons.....1-1

Half time: City 1 United 1

75 mins
Within three minutes of arriving from the subs bench, Adam Johnson had swerved into the Newcastle box from the right flank, before firing a fine low shot beyond Krul 1-2

Full time: City 2 United 1

We Said

 
Chris Hughton said:

"Coming here with the world class players that they've got and what they are able to bring off the bench, you know that it would be a difficult day anyway. I thought we went through large periods of the game when we were able to contain them. We were comfortable enough and our goalkeeper wasn't tested so much, but you have to have some decisions go your way and I think the referee has made two horrendous decisions.

"My first impressions were that Mike Williamson had played the ball and also the fact that it was outside the box. They were confirmed when I saw it again. 

"My first impression when Shola Ameobi went down was that his standing foot had been taken away from him and that was confirmed as well. Absolutely
(it's a penalty). We've already seen it. Lescott loses his footing and of course - absolute penalty. It's a tough enough place to go." 

Speaking about Andy Carroll's demotion to the bench:

"He did have a bit of a virus last week but I felt over the last few games he has just lost a little bit. And Shola had a fabulous game at Chelsea in the Carling Cup so I wanted to give him a chance.

"But Andy is a massive part of this club and will continue to be for a long time."

On Hatem Ben Arfa:

"It doesn't look good - he looks like he's broken his leg and that will be confirmed by the club later. I thought it was a challenge that didn't need to be made. When you have a young talented player when they have that type of injury and it's there for his team-mates to see, it's of course very upsetting."

The club later released the following statement:

"X-rays taken this afternoon have confirmed that he has suffered a broken tibia and fibula of his left leg. He will undergo surgery tomorrow morning (Monday). Everyone connected with the club sends Hatem their best wishes for a speedy recovery. At this stage no time limit has been put on his expected return date."

Hughton's assistant, Colin Calderwood (in his final game), subsequently said:

"At first the tackle looked really strong – he went into the challenge very, very quickly. We tried to get a quick look at the replay, but there was no replay coming up on the camera in the tunnel.

"But I wouldn’t want to take that type of challenge out of our football. The consequences of the challenge are horrible but there was a certain amount of misfortune in that Hatem’s legs were attached to the ground a little bit and the force with which de Jong hit him definitely moved the leg."

They Said


Roberto Mancini
took flight back to Italy, leaving Brian Kidd to unconvincingly state:

"Everybody knows Nigel and he is as honest as the day is long. It's so sad when you see that happen and we hope it is not too serious. There was no malice in Nigel's challenge and Nigel is not that type of lad. He's the same in training and there's no malice in Nigel de Jong."

On reports of a half time dressing room spat between Mancini and Carlos Tevez:

"There was an awful lot said between the group at half-time, but the lads showed a great response in the second half. It showed how badly they wanted to win.

"The game will always be about players but we are also very fortunate to have a great manager who will drive this club on to success. The boss is not here to keep everybody happy. He is here to win things.

"I don't understand the phrases smaller games and lesser teams. The Premier League is unpredictable. You must have respect for any opposition. If you are not at it, you are not going to pick the points up."

Matchwinner Adam Johnson said:

"I wasn't a Sunderland fan, I was at Newcastle and supported them as a kid. It's extra special to score against my old team but I play for City now, so that's all that counts.

"It's one of the best goals I've scored- It's my first in the league here and it's nice that it was the winner. It's always the plan when you're a sub to come on and try to make a difference. I did that. If we're going to do well this season, we need to grind out results."

Stats


Sol Campbell became the 156th player to appear for Newcastle in the Premier League - and he's only the second player in history (after Ryan Giggs) to have appeared in all 19 seasons of the Premier League. 

Jonas Gutierrez became the 93rd player to score for Newcastle in the Premier League - he's now netted five times for the Magpies, four coming in The Championship.

Jose Enrique completed a century of first team appearances for Newcastle in all competitions (92 starts and 8 sub appearances).

United @ City - last 20 visits:

CoM Stadium:
2010/11
Lost 1-2 Gutierrez
2008/09
Lost 1-2 Gutierrez
2008/09 Lost 1-2 Carroll
2007/08
Lost 1-3 Martins 
2006/07
Drew 0-0 
2005/06
Lost 0-3 
2004/05
Drew 1-1 Shearer 
2003/04
Lost 0-1 

Maine Road:
2002/03
Lost 0-1
2000/01
Won 1-0 Shearer
1995/96
Drew 3-3 Albert 2, Asprilla
1994/95
Drew 0-0
1993/94
Lost 1-2 Sellars
1993/94
Drew 1-1 Jeffrey (LC)
1986/87
Drew 0-0
1985/86
Lost 0-1
1983/84
Won 2-1 Beardsley, Keegan
1977/78
Lost 0-4
1976/77
Drew 0-0
1975/76
Lost 0-4
1974/75
Lost 1-5 Macdonald

Total record against Man City:

  P W D L F A
SJP 74 48 15 11 147 71
MR/CoM 75 16 20 39 78 133
League 149 64 35 50 225 204
SJP(FA) 6 3 2 1 8 5
MR/W 4 3 0 1 10 7
SJP(LC) 1 0 0 1 0 2
MR/W 2 0 1 1 2 3
Cup 13 6 3 4 20 17
Tot 162 70 38 54 245 221

 

Waffle


 


At least the downpour had stopped by the time Martin Atkinson blew his final whistle, allowing for a rain-free trudge back to the car - that was about as good as it got round these parts for United. 

Leaving Tyneside in steady rain on Sunday morning, conditions worsened with large areas of standing water on the approaches to the M60. That led to the first airing this season of that dreaded phrase, "it'll be off, this" - mentioned only half in jest.

The leaden skies and ongoing construction for the tram extension made this part of Manchester look even more depressing than usual - think Potsdamer Platz just after the Berlin Wall came down. That weird metal star that used to stand outside the ground meanwhile has disappeared since we were last here - a local reckoned that it had fallen down. On top of someone.

An impromptu test on a piece of grass adjacent to the boozer confirmed that although moist, it was playable (!) and once inside said ale house, live TV shots of the stadium dispelled any lingering fears of a late postponement in the style of our trip to West Ham circa 1997.

(ESPN's pre-NUFC offering had been some Aussie rules cup final that Collingwood aka The Magpies won convincingly, leading to joyous scenes of celebrating fans clad in black and white. It didn't prove to be a good omen - although Nigel De Jong may have picked up some tackling hints...)

Once inside, things hardly improved at a ground where things have seldom gone right for United - the cold comfort of posting our most creditable performance here to date far overshadowed by injuries to loan midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa and defender Fabricio Coloccini.

Our last Eastlands excursion had seen both Joey Barton (11 games out) and Michael Owen (5 games out, following a De Jong tackle) prematurely forced off with injuries, but today's obviously much worse - more like Tony Green at Selhurst Park, with possible similar consequences.

Barely four minutes had elapsed when Ben Arfa was left sprawled out on the pitch a few yards outside the City area, following a strong challenge from Nigel De Jong. Although Atkinson saw nothing wrong and allowed play to continue, United's Frenchman received oxygen on the field before departing for hospital on a stretcher, scans later revealing a broken tib and fib on his left leg.

Ben Arfa's departure immediately raised questions of whether we'd ever see him again in a Newcastle shirt, with his predicted recovery time coinciding with the period of his loan. And as well as the aforementioned Tony Green, Geoff Allen also got a mention - will Ben Arfa's goal at Everton be his sole contribution to the club's history, in the same way fellow winger Allen is recalled only for his tormenting of Feyenoord in the Fairs Cup before succumbing to injury. Let's hope not.

More cynically, the question was also asked as to whether the club would attempt to turn the situation to their advantage by gambling on his fitness by making Marseille an offer for what at present are damaged goods. Given that Gosling was signed in a similar condition it's not without precedent - even if the contractual situation is radically different.

What response came from the away fans to the Ben Arfa incident was provoked by second hand news beamed into them from those watching the game on TV - with the pivtoal moment coming when texts started reporting that ESPN were witholding some footage of the tackle as it was too distressing to broadcast - reminiscent of Martin Taylor's lunge on Eduardo Da Silva. 

Coming at the far end of the field,  a lack of reaction by the Newcastle players on the field towards De Jong also gave an impression that the injury wasn't calculated. Consequently no obvious abuse of De Jong was evident from that point on.

The post-match chorus of disapproval grew steadily - Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk deselecting De Jong from his squad and only Magpies coach Colin Calderwood attempting to give the defender the benefit of the doubt.

Wenger and his ilk may demand that the delicate flowers in their side get extra protection, but a bad tackle on anyone is a bad tackle, be it Barton or Ben Arfa. De Jong's challenge looked as violent and pre-meditated as the one that saw Lee Mason dismiss Karl Henry at Wigan the previous afternoon - any initial contact with the ball was an irrelevance to the follow-through.

Things then went from bad to worse as another dubious penalty decision gave City the chance to go ahead. There's a growing sense of injustice over penalty awards among away travellers - who have seen United denied blatant spot kicks at Everton and now here, but penalised at Chelsea and now here for dubious verging on ridiculous. Having said that though, my first reaction to the Williamson tackle was "penalty" - like the referee, that's without the benefit of multiple replays. 

That lead lasted for just six minutes however, before Jonas Gutierrez levelled and with City seemingly reluctant to commit further resources upfield, United more than held their own for the remainder of the first half. Another forced substitution was required though, when Fabricio Coloccini went off with a groin strain - Sol Campbell appearing for his first league outing posting a decent display.

His arrival gave the United defence some organisation, while Tiote again impressing with his energy and mobility and the oft-booed Joey Barton timed some wholehearted tackles to perfection.

City boss Roberto Mancini attempted to rouse his side by introducing Emanuel Adabayor, but it was the arrival of lively winger Adam Johnson that proved to be the difference between the two sides. 

Within three minutes of coming on, the boyhood Toon fan who was with Newcastle as a junior had grabbed what proved to be the winner - enough to earn him man of the match plaudits and easing the burden on anyone who wanted to write about a toon old boy haunting his former employers - James Milner's contribution familiar to those who watched him at SJP, being honest, energetic and thoroughly average. Yes, the lad has days when he sparkles - but today just wasn't one of them. 

Having opted to start with Shola Ameobi as his main attacker, our final replacement saw Andy Carroll arrive in place of Nolan - although the apparently under the weather number nine  didn't have any opportunities to add to his four goals this season.

Newcastle fans were on their feet in the closing stages screaming for a spot kick, after Ameobi had his legs swiped from under him by Joleon Lescott. No penalty was forthcoming and when Williamson got on the end of a corner, only to power his header over the crossbar, United's hopes of what would have been a deserved point evaporated. 

Post-match interviews saw Chris Hughton unsurprisingly fuming over the tackle on Ben Arfa and the performance of the referee - who certainly seemed to have a home win down on his coupon.

Looking beyond the result and the injury list (which messrs Simpson and Guthrie have now finally been removed from), there were positives to take from this in terms of the performance. Certainly an improvement on the display across the city at Old Trafford in August, similar fighting qualities to those evident at Goodison were to the fore. Three defeats from our last four league games though isn't anything to smile about. 

A quartet of upcoming home fixtures - Wigan, mackems, Blackburn, Fulham - provide a viable opportunity to collect points. But without the "wildcard" of Ben Arfa, the onus is even more on Chris Hughton to plot a strategy to win at SJP, and have a plan B that isn't reliant on doodling lines and crosses at pitchside with time running out.   

Biffa
 


Page last updated 22 March, 2017