ETIHAD STADIUM — This was the first vision of a new, energised Manchester City but the same old Newcastle United at the Etihad.
The verdict was a chastening one for Eddie Howe and his players, who delivered their worst performance of the campaign at the worst possible time.
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Read MoreAnd they weren’t even the worst offenders – defensively Newcastle retreated so far they might have ended the afternoon sat in the god’s at the neighbouring Co-Op Arena.
It leaves Howe and Newcastle in a difficult spot as they peer at a run of games that will define whether this season is one of the finest in the club’s modern history or yet another false dawn.
Arguably that is what is more important for the long-term progress of a club that has been caged in by the Premier League’s financial regulations for over a year now. No spend in January was a requirement rather than a choice but when you witnessed the impact of City’s new boys, the dangers of their conservative recruitment outlook are reinforced in uncertain terms.
Not enough, surely, to rescue a Champions League play-off that ran away from them in midweek but probably sufficient to keep challengers like Newcastle and Nottingham Forest at bay in the race to retain their seat at Europe’s top table.
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Read MoreHis opener – courtesy of Ederson’s raking kick down the middle that Kieran Trippier badly misjudged – was a wonderful chip over Martin Dubraka that set the tone for an afternoon when so little went right for the visitors.
Barring a nightmare debut Khusanov has looked good too and his pace enabled City to protect themselves against the sort of collapses that have dogged them recently.
As the Magpies’ defence creaked and conceded here, it was difficult to escape the conclusion that Newcastle’s inaction in the New Year might prove costly in the race to return to the Champions League.
The theory was that no European football might help Newcastle this season. But it is Howe’s men who are condemned to a week of soul-searching after a limp defeat that leaves their league campaign at a crossroads. This was their third Premier League loss in the last four: whichever way you spin it, that is simply not good enough.
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