Manchester City enjoyed another brilliant win at the Etihad on Saturday with Julian Alvarez the scorer and Phil Foden outstanding.
Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes admits his side allowed Manchester City too much space in the first half of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat.
City picked up their second win of the season thanks to a wonderful finish from Julian Alvarez. The Argentinian fired past Nick Pope from an angle after brilliant work from Phil Foden to create the opening.
Foden was the standout player on the night, creating seven chances from his more central role. The 23-year-old was allowed time and space to get on the turn and work his magic, creating multiple chances for an uncharacteristically wasteful Erling Haaland.
Newcastle were left wanting in midfield as gaps opened up between the lines, and Guimaraes believes that was the main reason they struggled during the first half.
“I think we gave them too much time on the ball,” the Brazilian told NUFC TV. “We cannot leave them to play and I think we gave them too much space.
“With the ball we were not good enough, we can do much better. But in the 2nd half we played much better, had one or two chances where we could score but this showed we can compete against a team like that.
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“The first half we gave the ball away, we left them with too much time on the ball.”
Newcastle managed to nullify City’s threat a little better after half-time, although Pep Guardiola’s side were still in control throughout the 90 minutes. But Eddie Howe’s side had chances to create an opening and Guimaraes believes they were wasteful in that sense.
“We tried to put more pace into the team with the players that came in,” he added. “We should have scored at least once.
“We tried to press them one-v-one, sometimes they got through and [Nick] Pope made two brilliant saves. But at the same time we have two-v-one, three-v-three and we didn’t score. Against a team like that, when we have the chance we have to score.”