Newcastle's win over Manchester City analysed

I mean, how well did Eddie Howe manage this one? Exceptionally well. Another important win for Newcastle off the back of losing three of the opening four games this season. It's now three wins and a draw in their last four matches. But the key moment perhaps for Eddie Howe was the first half team talk and the substitutions he made at the break. Here's the average positions for his Newcastle side in the first half. You can see they're much deeper. Pretty much everyone in the Newcastle half. A little bit over to the left hand side to compensate for Manchester City, who were dominant down that right hand side. Eddie Howe's thinking at half time was to make changes to improve the balance of the team. He brought on two top quality players in Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon. Also, he felt Newcastle weren't winning their 1v1 duels in the way that Eddie Howe wanted. And the Newcastle boss was keen to get tighter to Manchester City. The two subs meant they had a lot more quality and they're able to push further up the pitch in that second half. And you can see a very distinct difference in the two shapes. First half, second half. So many more Newcastle players in the Manchester City half. Of course, you've got the Bruno Guimaraes that can naturally take the ball up the pitch because that's what he does so well. And you can see other than Paul Dummett, really, at the back there, everyone in a much more advanced position in the second 45 minutes. So, yeah, a much, much better second half performance. They got the goal and, of course, progression and Newcastle's reward. A repeat of the final from last season as they travel to Manchester United. Just having a look at that, it's fascinating really to see how that changed. I mean, there were 10 changes to the side that beat Sheffield United. How key were those changes at halftime then? I think it's a credit to what Newcastle have done over the last, you know, the summer transfer window and the January transfer window. You know, when you look at the changes with Guimaraes and Gordon coming on, I think that quality in their depth and the fact that they obviously had a message from Eddie Howe. And he said, you know what, we're at home. Manchester City were playing well, but they weren't creating too many chances. Let's get at them. And you could see in the first five minutes, Newcastle were getting straight at them and they got their goal and Isak got another goal. And obviously, he's going to be building on his confidence. Callum Wilson's got four goals this season. Isak's got four goals. Anthony Gordon looks like he's got a new lease of life as well. So, yeah, I think they're in a really good run of form after, like we said, their bad start. I know that they had Gomez and Lewis in the team, but it was still a strong City lineup that we saw Newcastle go up against. City had 70% possession in the first half. Newcastle only had one shot. So, they're able to ride out that process. So, there's no doubt at halftime Eddie Howe said, boys, we're still in this. This game is there for the taking. They're at home. And to be honest, it's hard to say whether or not Pep Guardiola will be genuinely upset at losing this match. But this was a huge opportunity for Newcastle. We talked about it on Tuesday. They need to go and show that they've got the ruthlessness to win these kind of matches, to progress in tournaments like this. City have won a lot of trophies and have set the benchmark for how kind of relentless you have to be in these competitions. If Newcastle want to get there, they've got to go and try and win these kind of games. So, yeah, it's a great win and credit to Eddie Howe for changing it when it needed to be done. And just quickly picking up on something you said, they're obviously using so many of his players, which he's going to have to do in rotation with them being in so many competitions. So, very important minutes, isn't it? Particularly when you get to do that in competitions like this. Yeah, and like we said with Isak and Wilson, I think that's the prime example. Two strikers that would probably start for any other top club in the world and in the Premier League. And I think the fact that they're fighting for that position, they both had seven games this season, both scored four goals. That competition is healthy for a team like Newcastle that are trying to get or be consistent in that position of European football, challenging for these trophies, getting to cup finals. And I think the fans are going to love it. Eddie Howe's going to love the competition. And when you're winning games, you can't really get mad at not starting games because I feel like he's giving everyone an opportunity. He is, and everyone wants the opportunity. That's the problem. But we've got this competition that you mentioned. It is healthy, but you've got Alexander Isak, of course, as we saw, Mark, scoring a goal. What about the competition between him and Callum Wilson? How do you think this is going to pan out? Yeah, how brilliant is it for Eddie Howe that he can call upon two top class strikers, both in form this season, who are doing exceptionally well? Let's take a look at their head-to-head because it is quite brilliant. Of course, seven games each for Isak and Wilson. Isak started more games, six starts compared to Callum Wilson's two. But that's significant, isn't it? Four goals each. And this is where things are slightly different, the minutes per goal. Callum Wilson scoring a goal every 71 minutes compared to Isak's 113. The conversion rate, Isak slightly better with 136% compared to 27%. So you can see both players in form, both players playing exceptionally well. But the big question is, who should be starting?