Manchester City produce thrilling second-half comeback against Newcastle to secure 3-3 draw

Manchester City produce thrilling second-half comeback against Newcastle to secure 3-3 draw

Manchester City suffered their first blip of the 2022/23 season as the defending champions were held to a heart-stopping 3-3 draw away to Newcastle United to end their perfect start to the campaign under Pep Guardiola. City were put under immense pressure by Eddie Howe’s side in front of a noisy St. James Park crowd, trailing by two goals in the second half after Kieran Trippier curled in a delicious free kick from the edge of the area.

However, the quality of the champions eventually shone through as Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva rescued a point for the visitors in the final 30 minutes in an enthralling contest on Tyneside.

Manchester City entered the game as one of only two teams to win both their games to start the season, and Pep Guardiola’s side dominated the early exchanges to take an early lead inside five minutes. Ilkay Gundogan caught the Newcastle defenders’ ball-watching and ghosted into the penalty area to fire past Nick Pope after collecting Bernardo Silva’s cross. City continued to pepper Nick Pope’s goal in the opening stages, but Newcastle found equal joy against the visitors on the counter-attack.

Allan Saint-Maximin gave Kyle Walker plenty of trouble down Newcastle’s left wing, and the Frenchman created Newcastle’s equaliser, sending in a cross into the six-yard box that was bundled in off the thigh of Miguel Almiron. The pacy winger was also central to the Magpies’ second goal, running at John Stones before releasing Callum Wilson, who cut past Ruben Dias before poking the ball into the corner to give Newcastle a 2-1 lead.

City showed glimpses of their devastating individual quality when Erling Haaland struck the post in the second half, but the Newcastle crowd had plenty more to cheer as Kieran Trippier doubled their advantage. The Englishman whipped an out-swinging free kick from 25 yards past a scrambling Ederson into the top corner.

However, just as City looked vincible, the champions stepped up a gear to produce an inspired comeback. Erling Haaland pulled one back from close distance following Rodri’s cutback to score his third goal of the season before Kevin de Bruyne delivered an inspired through ball that cut open the Newcastle defence to release Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese made no mistake on the finish past an out-stretched Nick Pope to level the scores just ten minutes after conceding a two-goal deficit.

More drama followed as Kieran Trippier’s red card was demoted to just a yellow card offence by the VAR, and Newcastle did just enough in the closing stages to hang on to a point against one of the top sides in the division.