Man City reaction to Kevin De Bruyne goal could be priceless in Premier League title race

Pep Guardiola was clear ahead of this match when asked about the form of Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez: it was great, but Manchester City still miss and need Erling Haaland.

There were certainly times at Newcastle - the ninth consecutive match that City's No.9 has missed - where his presence would have been dearly appreciated. The visitors created a glut of opportunities at St James' Park but for too long showed a cautiousness in the box that didn't test Martin Dubravka in goal as much as their threat merited.

However, City have another force of nature in Kevin De Bruyne. He was on the bench as expected, but only needed 20 minutes off it to score a majestic equaliser before providing a sumptuous ball into the box for Oscar Bobb to net a dramatic winner; "That's why we're champions," sang the away end.

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You could have made a case for the things that went against City as they trailed 2-1 in the second half. Ederson was forced off early after a heavy collision from a delayed offside flag, the second time in three league games City have lost a player in that way after John Stones's rotten luck at Everton; Bruno Guimaraes was fortunate to avoid a second yellow card towards the end of the first half that could have tipped the scale towards the Premier League champions; the strikes from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon to give Newcastle a 2-1 lead that they held out for were well taken.

Yet City have not won as much as they have by using mitigating factors to explain their shortcomings. There was a feeling earlier in the season that they had conceded a lot of unlucky goals but the reason that a