Manchester City v Newcastle United: Premier League – live | Premier League

33 min: A brief cameo by Ederson, who first comes to the edge of a crowded box to punch clear, then flaps when the ball’s returned with interest. The ball nearly drops to the feet of Wilson, but City manage to clear before the striker can get a shot away.

31 min: Akanji and Wilson square up over a throw-in, for goodness sake. Pep races from his technical area to get in between the rutting stags, and it all calms down quickly enough. A throw-in, though.

29 min: Guimaraes goes down holding his ankle. He needs some attention from the trainer. He’ll continue … for now … though he doesn’t look too happy. He had been a fitness doubt before this game.

28 min: Trippier swings a low cross into the City box from the right. It’s easily cleared by Akanji and City counter, Foden once again making his presence known down the right. Newcastle swarm him and clear, but what trouble Foden is causing them.

26 min: De Bruyne slides down the inside-left channel and nearly releases Haaland into the box. Lascelles does just enough to hold off the striker and shepherd the ball through to Pope. The way City are dominating, a second goal is surely just a matter of time.

25 min: De Bruyne sends a pass wide right for Foden, who traps and flicks the ball behind him in one smooth movement before tearing into space again. Another Gazzaesque moment. He’s playing with such breezy confidence. It’s a great watch.

23 min: City are the bosses of Newcastle right now. Passing and probing, probing and passing. Newcastle can’t get a touch.

21 min: Rodri sprays a diagonal pass towards Foden on the right. Foden’s first touch takes him infield, past Burn, a sensational bit of skill. He rolls towards Gundogan, who very nearly bursts into the box down the middle. The move breaks down, but what control from Foden, who is playing some sweet football this week, having already held a masterclass in the west country midweek.

19 min: Foden again makes a nuisance of himself out on the right, and wins a corner off Burn. De Bruyne hits it long, and not particularly accurately. The Toon clear their lines.

17 min: That was a marvellous bustling run. But it’s nearly cancelled out immediately, Wilson slipping Longstaff into space, just inside the City box on the right. Longstaff can’t sort his feet out, though, allowing Ake to come across and block. That was a huge chance to equalise in short order.

GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Newcastle United (Foden 15)

13 min: City have enjoyed 76 percent of possession so far. No great surprise there, especially when you factor in Newcastle’s record at the Etihad: they’ve never won here.

12 min: De Bruyne looks to send the free kick into the top right, but skies the effort.

11 min: Gundogan drops a shoulder with a view to entering the Newcastle box from the left. Guimaraes clumsily clips him to the left of the D, and this is a free kick in a very dangerous position.

10 min: Joelinton goes down, requiring a little treatment. He’s up and about again quickly enough. Both teams have misplaced their early stores of energy.

8 min: A chance for Gordon to break into the City box. He slips, and the chance is gone.

6 min: A round of applause during the sixth minute in memory of a young City fan who sadly passed away.

5 min: After a fast start, a lull. Nina writes: “You mentioned City are in their usual sky blue, but neglected to mention their unusual pre-match kit, so I gave it a Google…” It’s worth clicking through all right, with City launching a kit range inspired by Emmeline Pankhurst to celebrate girls and women in football.

4 min: Almiron and Longstaff combine down the right and win the first corner of the afternoon off Ake. The corner’s hit long. Lascelles rises highest at the far stick and plants a header goalwards. Rodri clears. A good start by Newcastle, this.

3 min: Ederson, under pressure from that Newcastle press, shanks a dismal clearance straight out of play. City look uncharacteristically jittery at the back during these early exchanges.

2 min: That was a good chance for Gundogan. He had to stretch and lean back to make the header, but had he guided it towards a corner, Pope wasn’t getting there.

City get the ball rolling. Newcastle press them hard from the get-go, pushing them back into their final third. Burn flings in a long throw but the hosts deal with it easily enough and counter. Grealish crosses from the left and Gundogan heads over. Brisk start!

The teams are out. Manchester City wear their sky blue, while Newcastle sport first-choice black and white stripes. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. “Hard to believe a player of Mahrez’s quality and excellent form is only a substitute,” writes Dean Kinsella. “And Howe thinks his bench is strong!”

Eddie Howe talks to BT. “Training has been good in response to that defeat last week … we played well between both boxes but we are looking for a better performance in the critical areas … you always think about tweaking your team … our bench looks particularly strong … we’re going to need the whole squad today and everyone is ready to play … Anthony Gordon has worked with real intensity … it’s a really good opportunity for him today … Fabian Schar suffered a slight concussion against Manchester United … we want to show our intent early in the game.”

Pep has a quick chat with BT Sport. “Newcastle have arrived and want to stay for a long, long time … I am sure they have already forgotten [the cup-final defeat] and want to finish the Premier League as high as possible … I expect the best from Newcastle … always we take a look at opponents, now Arsenal, in the past Liverpool … obviously we would prefer they lose, that is normal … but [Arsenal] make 50 points in the first leg of the season, they are so consistent, so we know we can drop few points if we want to stay there until the end … I have said for many months that Manchester United are back … the strangeness of the last seven or eight years was that they were not there.”

Manchester City make two changes to the starting XI selected for the 4-1 rout of Bournemouth last weekend. Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker replace Julian Alvarez and Rico Lewis, who both drop to the bench.

Newcastle United make three changes to the team named for the League Cup final. Nick Pope returns in goal after suspension, replacing Loris Karius, while Martin Dubravka sits on the bench. Fabian Schar is injured so club captain Jamaal Lascelles takes his place, while Anthony Gordon makes his first start for the club since joining from Everton, Allan Saint-Maximin dropping to the bench.

The teams

Preamble