The Premier League champions fell to a surprise defeat at St James’ Park
Manchester City’s hopes of retaining the league title suffered a major blow at St James’ Park on Tuesday night as Newcastle United came from behind to beat Pep Guardiola’s side 2-1.
City had taken the lead inside 25 seconds through Sergio Aguero. From there, they had appeared to be in complete control of the game, dominating possession and nullifying any threat from the home side for the remainder of the first-half.
Aguero thought he’d doubled City’s lead before the break as he latched on to a free-kick from Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian, however, was adjudged to have taken the free-kick before the referee was ready – earning himself a booking for his troubles.
Though City continued to have the better of the game after the break, they failed to create much in the way of clearcut chances. They were made to regret this when Salomon scored an unexpected equaliser with 25 minutes remaining.
Though the Premier League champions attempted to re-establish their lead, sloppy play from Fernandinho in his own area saw him trip Sean Longstaff for a penalty. Matt Ritchie stepped up to take it and scored what proved to be the final goal of the game with ten minutes to play.
Their defeat leaves them four points adrift of leaders Liverpool at the Premier League summit with Jurgen Klopp’s side hosting Leicester at Anfield on Wednesday night. A win in that game would see them open up a commanding lead as the season enters February.
City, who started the month with a much-needed victory over Liverpool, will now hope to return to winning ways as they host Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
