Man City player ratings: Jack Grealish shines in both sides of his game but Erling Haaland is frustrated by Newcastle

JACK GREALISH came out on top but Erling Haaland fired a blank as Manchester City were held by Newcastle at St. James’ Park.

The Toon roared out of the traps but the Cityzens survived the early storm to take the lead.

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Josko Gvardiol scored for Man City[/caption]

AFP

Jack Grealish was in the thick of it throughout[/caption]

EPA

Anthony Gordon won and converted the penalty[/caption]

Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis were deployed to fill the void of the injured Rodri, and they did well until Eddie Howe’s men got back into it after the break.

Bruno Guimaraes slipped a brilliant throughball behind the City backline, and with Kyle Walker playing Gordon onside, the Toon ace charged through but was sent tumbling from Ederson’s challenge.

The Brazilian was booked, and the Newcastle star kept his cool to slot home and level.

Both teams looked for a winner, with Bernardo Silva coming closest, but it was honours even.

City have now dropped four points in the space of a week after successive draws here and with Arsenal.

Here is how SunSport‘s Gary Stonehouse rated each of their players on display in the North East: 

Ederson – 6

Little to do in the first half but produced a great save to deny Joelinton an equaliser right on the stroke of half time.

Gave away pen and then saved from Harvey Barnes but caused some nervous moments late on by dawdling on a backpass, allowing Gordon to deflect his clearance and energise the home crowd.

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Kyle Walker – 6

As always, got forward and supported the attack well. 

Was caught napping and playing Gordon onside in the build-up to the penalty, making it the second-straight week the finger of blame has been pointed towards him.

Ruben Dias – 6

The centre-back was strong enough throughout and always wanted the ball.

However, the threat of Gordon and Newcastle’s pace caused him a worry all afternoon.

Manuel Akanji – 7

Big, physical specimen who had to be on his guard all game for the counter-attacking threat.

Both he and his defensive partner struggled against the pace of Gordon getting in behind them.

Josko Gvardiol – 7

Survived early scares when both Jacob Murphy and Kieran Trippier got at it him to then prove his threat going forward.

Great finish and gave Murphy barely a sniff as the match went on.

Rico Lewis – 7

He did well in the land of the giants that was the middle of the St. James’ pitch.

Kept things ticking over before he was replaced late on.

Mateo Kovacic – 7

Booked for a foul on Sandro Tonali after the equaliser and was involved in a few niggles all afternoon.

Relished the battle of facing the physicality of Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton and was there for his team countless times.

Bernardo Silva – 6

You barely knew he was there in the first half and it looked set to be an innocuous afternoon for the Portuguese magician.

Gets to keep his six rating after he showed a glimpse of his magic to almost win it deep in stoppage time.

He controlled, swivelled and hit it first time towards the top corner, only for Pope to deny him the headlines with a diving save.

Ilkay Gundogan – 6

Blazed wide with City’s first opening on 26 mins then pinched possession from a Nick Pope clearance but greedily went for the chip. 

As Toon stepped up the tempo after getting on level terms, the game was passing him by, and he was replaced by Phil Foden on 66 mins.

Jack Grealish – 8

Showed both sides of his game in the first half, bravely blocking a fierce Trippier drive that left him pole-axed before turning on the skills to create the opener.

Enjoyed a great battle with Trippier and was City’s main threat going forward as well as winning a number of free-kicks to calm the Newcastle storm.

Erling Haaland – 6

First two touches out of play and that set the tone for what was to be a frustrating afternoon for the usually lethal Norwegian.

His best chance came late on, but his header was straight at Pope.

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Erling Haaland had a tough afternoon and struggled to impact the game[/caption]

Subs:

Phil Foden (for Gundogan, 66 mins) – 6

Drilled an effort straight at Nick Pope from Haaland’s knockdown but struggled to get on the ball enough.

Savinho (for Lewis, 81 mins) – 5

Barely touched the ball in his brief cameo to make an impact.

Jeremy Doku (for Grealish, 81 mins) – 5

Same as Savinho, too little, too little to have any influence.