We didn’t “create enough” with the pressure and possession we had, Magpies boss says
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is disappointed that his side lost to Manchester City by a really close margin on Saturday.
City went ahead with only 14 minutes played through Nico O’Reilly, back to his natural position in midfield.
Newcastle hit back just eight minutes later, Lewis Hall firing past Gianluigi Donnarumma after a corner kick had been cleared and the ball dropped kindly to him, but O’Reilly’s second was enough to condemn the Toon to yet another defeat against City this season, their third in a row.
“I thought it was a strong performance from us,” Howe said. “Really disappointing to lose the game, I thought we were pretty good, physically really good considering the distance we had to travel to home.”
Newcastle faced Qarabag in the Champions League on Wednesday, defeating the Azerbaijani side 6-1 in a playoff tie that required a 5,058-mile journey. But Newcastle’s defeat at the weekend leaves them 10th in the table and nine points off the Premier League’s top five.
“I don’t think we created enough with the territory and amount of ball we had around their box,” Howe said.
“We wanted a solid strong start, we haven’t had that. It was a poor goal to concede but great response and a really good goal from Lewis Hall, and another one for Dan Burn and we were right in the game.”
Burn scored a header that would have been an equaliser after City’s second, but his effort was ruled out for offside. Replays showed that he had been shoved offside shortly before the set-piece was taken, although perhaps not with enough force to warrant any punishment.
“Disappointed,” was Burn’s verdict. “I thought that probably was the best we’ve come and played at City.
“If you’ve come to City and played as well as we have and not get anything out of it, it’s disappointing from our own point of view. Another day the result could have been different”
