I saw Pep Guardiola's brilliant reaction when Man City's unsung hero vs Newcastle proved him wrong

What a difference it makes to have a defensive midfielder who looks like he belongs there.

Manchester City's Premier League meeting with Newcastle at St James' Park in September was the first game without Rodri following his injury that ended his season. The home game on Saturday might be the first time they finally had a proper replacement.

At St James', Pep Guardiola backed Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis to double-up in midfield. Neither has cemented a role as a reliable Rodri replacement, prompting City to go and spend £50m on Nico Gonzalez in January.

After an injury vs Leyton Orient and watching brief vs Real Madrid, this was the first time City really got to see Gonzalez as a number six. It was reassuring simply to have a player who knew what to do in that position.

Guardiola publicly questioned whether City could 'compete' with Newcastle's midfield physically before this one. In a long dissection of his own side's flaws on the eve of this game, Guardiola said his side suffer with the ball, are too slow and too weak. He basically said City need to drag themselves through to the summer where they can 'make some decisions' and start again.

He wasn't writing off this season, but he was hardly optimistic that things will change. Not really a vote of confidence for the new signings.

But maybe, with Gonzalez, things don't have to be so bad? His presence at least returned some physicality to the midfield against Newcastle and he kept the ball moving in exactly the way Guardiola said City have stopped doing.

Whether it was the simplicity of just passing to a Blue shirt, back to Ederson if needed, or the calmness to play out of tight areas, Gonzalez played like he'd been at the Etihad for years rather than days. He made more