A monumental collapse in the second half from the Magpies saw Manchester City come from behind to thump Newcastle United 6-1.
An early goal for Aleksandar Mitrovic gave Newcastle an unexpected lead at the Etihad, and after a very good first 45 minutes were unfortunate to be pegged back to 1-1 before half-time.
Calamity then ensued in the second half as Sergio Aguero scored 5 within 20 minutes, alongside one for Kevin de Bruyne.
It’s fair to say that it’s unlikely any football side has ever produced two such ridiculously contrasting 45 minutes in one match.
Here’s what we learnt from today’s shambolic performance:
McClaren needs to work on his half-time team-talks…
Seriously, what on Earth was said in there?
Newcastle went from matching, if not outplaying, Manchester City in the first half, to turn into an utter shambles in the second!
We were unlucky to go in at 1-1, surely the tails would have been up and we could have taken the game to the Citizens.
Instead, a very early brace from Aguero found horrific gaping holes in a defence that was sublime not less than 20 minutes beforehand. And the goals just kept coming and coming. Absolutely baffling.
You HAVE to take your chances in the Premier League
By far the most frustrating thing to take away from the game. Newcastle could have easily been two or three goals to the good within the first 30 minutes here. After Mitrovic got his goal he had another two wonderful chances which could have put the game beyond Manchester City.
We all know just how unforgiving this league is, there was no way we were ever going to hang on to the 0-1 lead against the likes of Silva, Aguero, Sterling and de Bruyne.
Yes, credit to Mitrovic for his goal and his all-round first half display. But his missed efforts really did prove to be very, very costly.
Newcastle’s mentality will be put to the test against Norwich
Just how massive is this game looking now?
Newcastle head into the international break bottom of the league, and still without a win. After a fantastic display against Chelsea, Newcastle’s mentality was criticised by both Jose Mourinho and Gary Neville, as a side that could only turn up against the big sides, and didn’t show any respect to the “lesser” teams, like Watford or Sheffield Wednesday.
It was again true for at least the first half against Manchester City this afternoon too. It’s going to take one heck of a turnaround to be able to come back and take anything against Norwich after the embarrassment suffered today.
But it is vital we do so, especially with a certain Wear-Tyne derby to come afterwards.
Sissoko is very fortunate to still be one of the first names on the team sheet
Even in the first 45 minutes, which was altogether a strong one for Newcastle, Sissoko’s contribution was still questionable. As was the case last week against Chelsea.
This is a guy who thinks he is good enough for Champions League football, yet of late has produced some of the laziest, lackluster displays to ever occur in a Newcastle shirt.
On form, the guy is physically unstoppable with his raw power and pace, so why doesn’t he unleash it like he used to?
The fact McClaren is wanting to build a team around him is absurd.
At least we had a go..?
It’s somewhat difficult trying to find positives after that. But, as I’ve said, it was a good first half display. On the back of last week, we’ve proved we can compete with teams like this, sort of. The second half was just indescribable.
But it was nice to see (however briefly) that we weren’t afraid to attack City away from home. And it was another promising display from Mbabu, let’s hope his injury isn’t too serious.
