Newcastle have come too far to simply 'write off' Man City defeat as tough decisions lie ahead

As the final whistle went at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon, the players trooped from the pitch - heavily beaten by Manchester City, it was a day to forget for Newcastle United. Yet, while a Newcastle under the previous owner Mike Ashley would have simply written this one off as ‘ah, well it’s Manchester City,’ this Newcastle United have come too far to do that.

At the turn of the year, Newcastle looked destined to play Championship football next season, and only a miraculous turnaround in form now has them sitting comfortably in midtable. Eddie Howe has come in, raised the standards of the players and set the bar each must meet with every game.

Against City, as good as they are, most fell short. With the talent City have in abundance, they do not need an extra hand in winning games but Newcastle supplied the gifts anyway. All five goals were preventable, and as Howe said after the game, ‘individual mistakes’ cost United dearly.

Howe’s standards mean that those mistakes will not be allowed to go unnoticed in the build-up to the Arsenal game - with the head coach telling reporters that ‘we’ll watch the goals back.’ It’s something he, along with his staff do after every game - and once they analyse this performance, it might provoke more questions than answers.

Of course, it has to be mentioned once again that it was Manchester City - wounded from the nightmare in Madrid with a roster of talent that most teams can only dream of. Yet at some point, we have to look past the opposition and dive into what went wrong with Newcastle’s own performance.

The wide men not tracking back and therefore leaving the full-backs exposed. The defence leaving men unmarked in the box, and forward men missing golden chances.

It’s football, of