Brillante was the key man for City, with much of the play going through him. He offered an option going forward for the centrebacks, and was always in good positions to circulate play. He made up 91 of the 588 passes that City attempted, and had a pass completion rate of 95%. His passing wasn’t particularly penetrative, laying the ball off to players like Atkinson, Jamieson and Luna to make things happen.

Newcastle’s back line was fairly deep, and with five defenders in the box, two midfielders sitting deep, and the attacking midfielders tracking back, it was difficult for City to threaten. The deep line meant it was difficult for Maclaren to win balls off runs into the channels, and Luna’s bursts from deep were covered off by Topor-Stanley. Atkinson motored up on the overlap, but his final product continued to disappoint. They only managed four shots in the first half, none of which really threatened the goal. The liveliest option was Wales, who would look to cut inside and then cross or shoot.

It certainly looked like City weren’t up to scratch - probably related to their having played their last game away three days ago.

Newcastle in attack

Newcastle slowed down the tempo significantly when they had the ball, with most of their possession being held in their half of the pitch, with the centrebacks patiently passing between themselves, the midfielders and the wingbacks, inviting the City press forward.

City’s press was fairly high and narrow. Early, the front three pressed the centrebacks, with Maclaren leading the press full of energy and Luna coming forward to pick up Ledley. Metcalfe started out by coming to Ugarkovic, but then Fitzgerald started popping in the space behind him to lay the ball off to Millar. As this happened a few times, Metcalfe had a decision to make - whether to move up the pitch, or to position himself to occupy the space instead. Brillante stayed more in the zone in front of the centrebacks.