City 3 Newcastle 1 - Stats Link & Post Match Reaction & Debate Thread | Vital Football

City 3 Newcastle 1 - Stats Link & Post Match Reaction & Debate Thread

OptaJoe

3 - Sergio Aguero has scored the first perfect Premier League hat-trick since the Argentine himself scored one against Newcastle in October 2015. Deja-vu.

 
Steve McClaren

Ex-England manager on BBC Radio 5 live

A deserved win for City. They totally dominated the first half with some breathtaking football. To be fair to Benitez, he made changes and went for it. The mood of the game changed in the second half, it was end-to-end and a pleasure to watch. Ultimately, City got their third and the three points. Great game.
 
Sergio Aguero, speaking to BT Sport:

"We're really happy with the victory. We needed it after last week. It's a long season though and we've not won anything yet. We need to keep going and pushing onto the next game."

On whether the first goal was actually his: Of course it was my goal - I think it touched my hair. It’s mine, sure, 100%!"

Oleksandr Zinchenko on BT Sport:

"I'm so happy and it's an important three points after Liverpool, we have to keep going.

"I'm very happy for Sergio, he's a life legend. When it was 2-1 it was a little bit dangerous but we scored more."
 
Johnny Baguette - 20/1/2018 19:29

This win has pissed on a few chips!

It has indeed JB, they were expecting a spectacular collapse by City, but I maintain that Liverpool in front of their own crowd would have played well above themselves and had they heard the comment from Tyler on Mané's goal, then we might have upped ours.

Today was a difficult one in terms that we knew that Newcastle were not going to bring the game to City and it was a game of patience, which paid off in the end.
 
Pep Guardiola speaking to BBC Sport:

"We need 10 more wins to be champions, and we’ll try for more points. We face these kind of teams – Southampton, West Ham, Bournemouth, who play with the 5-4-1, that’s why it’s so important to attack this kind of team.

"It’s not how many goals you score, it’s how many chances you create, it’s how many chances your keeper has to save. It was important how we reacted at 2-1, we didn’t panic."
 
Rafa Benitez told Match of the Day:

"I think that we wanted to stay in the game and we did it, the penalty was a bit soft and it changed everything. After we score we had a couple of chances. They are a very good team, our reaction was quite good.

"We changed at the end and played with four at the back, the idea was to stay solid and try to regain and play counter attack. At the beginning we were giving the ball away easily. To find the balance between defending and attacking is what we were trying to do.

"I have been praising the players the whole season in terms of effort, sometimes it's a bit of luck. If you have a little bit of luck you can be ahead in some games.

"It's the Premier League, everyone is spending a lot of money, that is why we expect something in this window. Hopefully we can see some new faces before the end of this window."
 
A pivotal moment. Pep talks openly of the title target and that reinforces our objective.

10 wins statement will demoralise the rags
 
Aguero's three goals.

https://twitter.com/MCFCLens/status/954777272967467008

https://twitter.com/MCFCLens/status/954788984558903302

https://twitter.com/MCFCLens/status/954794303297114112
 
Not our best performance, but we did what was needed. Why we are suddenly so open at the back is a mystery that needs to be solved pronto.
 
More from Pep...

"I said we are not going to buy a striker because we have Sergio Aguero and in 2 to 3 weeks we will have Gabriel Jesus. We are so happy for him. We need a guy who scores the goals."
 
BamaEngineer - 20/1/2018 20:05

Not our best performance, but we did what was needed. Why we are suddenly so open at the back is a mystery that needs to be solved pronto.

Absolutely, BE.
By the way, please add your birthdate on my thread, English-style! (day/month).
x
 
BamaEngineer - 20/1/2018 20:05

Not our best performance, but we did what was needed. Why we are suddenly so open at the back is a mystery that needs to be solved pronto.

The analysis from Ferdinand on BT Sport was illuminating - Stonesy had moved too far to the right when there was no real need and opened a huge gap between him and young Zinchenko. A learning point for him - with Otamendi out of position having tried to win the ball he should have had his defender first head on and have reduced the space - it was that yawning gap where the ball was played through.

Cool finish from the Newcastle player though
 
BamaEngineer - 21/1/2018 08:05

Not our best performance, but we did what was needed. Why we are suddenly so open at the back is a mystery that needs to be solved pronto.

I think Stones has lost all the confidence he had built up prior to his injury .
Otto is a bit out of form.
 
OziMan - 21/1/2018 03:15

BamaEngineer - 21/1/2018 08:05

Not our best performance, but we did what was needed. Why we are suddenly so open at the back is a mystery that needs to be solved pronto.

I think Stones has lost all the confidence he had built up prior to his injury .
Otto is a bit out of form.

Agree about Stones, shame because I had him as a contender for player of the season for us before his layoff.

Just as the defence shouldn't be solely praised when goals aren't being conceded, neither should they be wholly blamed when they are. We need to step up the aggression again when our of possession.
 
Stones was a bit exposed after Ota went walkabout.

Combination of people being caught out of position and missing tackles.....KDB lost out on the edge of the Newcastle penalty area, Fernandinho got sucked forward to try and make a tackle and then Otamendi got pulled out of the middle to try and make a tackle but failed.......Stones moving to his natural right sided CB position/area created a huge gap to exploit which they did.

I am sure Pep will learn from that and coach them
 
Buzz Lightyear - 21/1/2018 11:25

You have to admit their goal was a lucky put up field

Nah mate, they got a bit lucky that the ball broke from Otter's challenge the way it did, it left a number of ours flat footed but the through ball was quality.