Manchester City made light of their injury issues and any exhaustion from playing Sevilla in Greece on Wednesday night thanks to Phil Foden’s midfield masterpiece.
Julian Alvarez scored the game-winning goal after Foden set it up for him as the champions kept their perfect record against a Newcastle team that had its own title aspirations.
The England star’s at times unplayable play will give Pep Guardiola faith that City can function without Kevin de Bruyne after his hamstring surgery, which will keep him out of action until December.
He generated a total of seven chances and made the difference versus formidable opponents who received five bookings.
Pep Guardiola was able to select a strong starting lineup despite the absence of Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and John Stones because of £77 million defender Josep Gvardiol, who made his first Premier League start.
With six of the nine substitutes being less than 22 years old, the bench appeared more tattered.
Newcastle defeated Aston Villa 5-1 with no changes from their quick start the previous Saturday. But manager Eddie Howe’s team had lost their previous 14 league trips to The Etihad, and history was not on their side.
The club pulled out its three trophies for fans to admire before City’s first home game following The Treble.
It undoubtedly contributed to the vibe Guardiola desired following his team’s midweek efforts to win the European Super Cup in the sweltering Athens heat.
In order to make up for de Bruyne, Guardiola changed altered his strategy. To neutralize the threat of Kieran Trippier, Jack Grealish played behind Julian Alvarez on the left, frequently acting like a wing-back while Newcastle was in control.
Since Phil Foden had previously had success against Dan Burn, he was chosen as the right-sided attacker to try and run at him.
Nevertheless, City struggled throughout the first 30 minutes against a well-planned black-and-white defensive wall.
After being given the opportunity to shoot by Foden’s pass, Haaland had an uncharacteristically weak first touch. From 25 yards, Manuel Akanji’s shot was high, while Mateo Kovacic and Foden both had their shots blocked.
With bookings for Anthony Gordon, who was high on Ruben Dias, and Bruno Tonali, Newcastle demonstrated their feistiness.
Although they only sometimes entered the City side, they nevertheless posed a menace.
Gordon broke down the left side after a deft turn by Alexander Isak on the halfway line. Gordon then fired in a cross that Gvardiol did well to clear while facing his own goal.
After 31 minutes, City took the lead with their first shot on goal thanks to their talent.
Alvarez’s quick feet and quick mind were largely responsible for it. He got a pass from Foden just inside the box, used a first touch to control it, and then used a second touch to shoot past Nick Pope and Fabian Schar.
The Newcastle custodian did touch the ball with his left glove, but it didn’t do much to stop the shot from going even further into the top corner.
Some may have demanded a stronger touch, but given the caliber of the finish, that would have been unfair to the England custodian.
Guardiola has already used Alvarez more frequently this year than he did last, and last night’s goal was his 13th at home in 13 starts.
Before the break, Haaland came within a few millimeters of making it 2-0, but his low shot barely missed the post.
In the second half, Newcastle was able to attack the end where their three thousand fans had assembled.
It appeared to incite them, and Gordon, who had already received a caution, was fortunate to escape after hitting Dias on the top of the foot while attempting to apply pressure on the City defender.
Eddie Howe quickly arranged for the winger to be replaced by Harvey Barnes in order to prevent him from turning red. Sean Longstaff also came on for Joelinton, who had hurt himself during a hard challenge on Alvarez. The England players were then free to roam across the front line and cause issues for the foreign team.
A second goal was what Guardiola yearned for most. After an hour, Haaland stormed through the middle; however, Schar’s well-timed challenge caused the ball to rebound back onto the Norwegian striker and go out for a goal kick.
The manager rubbed his head in dismay as he acknowledged how tenuous City’s lead was. Haaland attempted to ease his mind by evading three defenders to fire a shot, but it sailed wide of the far post.
After that, Foden surged through the middle to present his center-forward with another opening. Although Pope used his feet to block, Haaland made a better connection this time, preventing City’s No. 9 from adding to his brace against Burnley on the first day.
For the final 25 minutes, Newcastle substituted Callum Wilson for the unproductive Isak, while midfielder Elliot Anderson also entered the game.
The visitors managed their first shot on goal after 70 minutes. When Gvardiol made a fantastic interception to stop Wilson from running into the center of City’s defense, Barnes took advantage of the lost ball and shot from 20 yards out, forcing Ederson to dive to his left to smother it.
In the final period, the visitors were more aggressive in their pursuit of an equalizer.
Grealish put in a lot of effort to recover and stop a goal-bound shot by Miguel Almiron. City will be optimistic of finishing with all three points before the first international break when they take on Sheffield United and Fulham now.
The schedule for Newcastle doesn’t appear to be getting much better. Liverpool and away from Brighton are the next two. However, they ended on a good note with the late addition of defender Tino Livramento, who made his Toon debut after joining for £45 million from Southampton.