Manchester City had Kevin De Bruyne to thank as the Belgian made an immediate impact off the bench to salvage a 3-2 win over Newcastle United on Saturday.
City lost goalkeeper Ederson to injury inside the opening minutes but bounced back and took the lead through Bernardo Silva, but Newcastle roared ahead with two goals in quick succession from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon towards the end of the first half.
With City struggling in their quest for an equaliser, Pep Guardiola turned to De Bruyne, who needed just five touches of the ball to score, and in the dying embers of the game, it was the Belgian's stunning pass which sent Oscar Bobb through on goal to tap home a late winner.
How the game unfolded
Newcastle had the ball in the back of the net inside two minutes. Alexander Isak squared for Sean Longstaff to tap home but the offside flag quickly halted celebrations and a VAR check confirmed the Swede had gone too soon. Kyle Walker's attempts to block the shot, which wouldn't have happened if the flag had gone up immediately, left Ederson on the ground in pain.
The Brazilian stopper looked awfully uncomfortable as he tried to carry on and was immediately caught in possession, but Newcastle couldn't get the ball under control to capitalise. Rodri and Phil Foden were seen screaming for Pep Guardiola to get Ederson off the field, and the boss ultimately made the swap.
When the dust finally settled, both sides enjoyed plenty of the ball and fizzed forwards at every given opportunity. Isak was denied a great chance by a last-ditch interception, before Silva sliced over from close range.
City had to be patient for the opening goal. In a move that featured plenty of passes, the visitors found some space down the right, where Walker fizzed in a cross towards Silva, whose lovely flick nestled into the bottom corner.
Martin Dubravka had to tip a strike from Silva on to the post almost immediately after as City took complete control of proceedings, but against the run of play, Isak managed to snatch an equaliser.
This time, Isak timed his run to perfection, getting ahead of Walker and cutting inside the full-back before bending a glorious effort into Stefan Ortega's top corner.
Before fans could catch their breath, Newcastle were ahead. This time, it was Anthony Gordon tormenting Walker and sending the ball into the same side of the City net to put the Magpies ahead at the break.
The tempo of the game slowed after the interval, with Newcastle focusing more on subduing City's threat. Bruno Guimaraes had to help clear a goalmouth scramble on the hour mark before Julian Alvarez's strike was sent directly at Dubravka. The Argentine also blazed over the bar after a bit of penalty box pinball.
De Bruyne was brought off the bench midway through the half to try turn things around, and the Belgian did exactly that. With 16 left on the lock, De Bruyne's strike from the edge of the box was controlled and precise as it slowly strolled perfectly into the bottom corner.
Just as a draw looked to be on the cards, De Bruyne stepped up once again. In the 91st minute, his delightful pass found Bobb, who rounded Dubravka and tapped home to seal a dramatic victory.
Newcastle player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Martin Dubravka - 7/10 - A nice save to keep Silva out which stopped City from running away with proceedings early on. Particularly busy after the break but largely rose to the occasion. Very unfortunate to end up on the losing side.
RB: Kieran Trippier - 7/10 - Really enjoyed his battle with Doku and usually came out on top. A brave performance which featured success at both ends of the field.
CB: Fabian Schar - 7/10 - A shaky start to things but really grew into proceedings as the game progressed. Flashed some serious composure for the equaliser.
CB: Sven Botman - 7/10 - Took his time to calm down but looked really dominant once he got there. Threw himself at everything.
LB: Dan Burn - 6/10 - Massively caught out for City's opening goal but made up for it with the assist for Gordon's go-ahead strike.
DM: Bruno Guimaraes - 8/10 - A glorious assist for Isak's equaliser in what was just the ugliest, scrappiest performance imaginable. Battled for every lose ball and his passion was infectious.
CM: Sean Longstaff - 5/10 - Felt like a bit of a passenger in the midfield battle. Not nearly as impactful as those around him.
CM: Lewis Miley - 7/10 - Serious discipline from the youngster. Worked hard defensively and helped progress play to get Newcastle's creative players involved.
RW: Miguel Almiron - 7/10 - Buzzed around with immense energy. His partnership with Trippier caused plenty of problems.
ST: Alexander Isak - 7/10 - Was absolutely feasting against City's high line. Had an assist ruled out before his delightful equaliser. Saw his impact fade in the second half as Newcastle sat back.
LW: Anthony Gordon - 7/10 - Went at Walker at every given opportunity and got the results with a lovely goal.
Substitutes
SUB: Lewis Hall (86' for Gordon) - N/A
Subs not used: Mark Gillespie (GK), Loris Karius (GK), Paul Dummett, Jamaal Lascelles, Emil Krafth, Alex Murphy, Matt Ritchie, Ben Parkinson
Manager
Eddie Howe - 6/10 - Took some time to figure the game out but Newcastle had some truly excellent periods in this game. They were good value for the lead but the decision to sit back after the break, while effective for the most part, felt like the wrong one. Newcastle had control of this game before that.
Man City player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Ederson - N/A - Injured after 90 seconds and nearly handed Newcastle a goal before limping off inside seven minutes.
RB: Kyle Walker - 3/10 - Walker assisted the opener and seemingly called it quits there. Two shocking examples of defending gifted Newcastle near-identical goals. Offered a decent attacking threat in the second half.
CB: Ruben Dias - 6/10 - Was clearly barking orders which weren't being followed. Only so much he could do to try carry this back line.
CB: Nathan Ake - 5/10 - An off day for Ake, who looked uncomfortable up against Isak. Feels like a better fit for the left-back role in this team.
LB: Josko Gvardiol - 5/10 - Did not have a good time against Almiron. Another example of the fact he is not a left-back.
DM: Rodri - 5/10 - Wasn't given the time to make things happen. Looked to lose his composure late in the first half after being caught by Bruno.
DM: Mateo Kovacic - 5/10 - Couldn't keep up with the tempo of the game. Seemed to get caught out once or twice by Newcastle's aggressive press.
RM: Phil Foden - 6/10 - Lively down the right up against Burn. Didn't always find the space he wanted but never stopped fizzing around trying to get things going.
AM: Bernardo Silva - 7/10 - A sensational goal which was nearly immediately followed by another sweet strike.
LM: Jeremy Doku - 4/10 - Really off it here. Had the odd glimpse but was largely silenced by Trippier.
ST: Julian Alvarez - 5/10 - Didn't really seem up for the battle with Botman and Schar. A pretty quiet performance.
Substitutes
SUB: Stefan Ortega (7' for Ederson) - 6/10 - Could do nothing about either of Newcastle's superb goals.
SUB: Kevin De Bruyne (69' for Silva) - 9/10 - An immediate impact. What a player.
SUB: Oscar Bobb (82' for Doku) - 7/10
Subs not used: Rico Lewis, Matheus Nunes, Mahamadou Susoho, Kalvin Phillips, Sergio Gomez, Jack Grealish
Manager
Pep Guardiola - 5/10 - City struggled with Newcastle's tactics for large parts of this game, and Guardiola hardly gets credit for the genius move of 'bringing De Bruyne off the bench'.
