Howe finally defeats Guardiola – how Newcastle stopped Manchester City

Something had to change, though.

Only Wolverhampton and struggling Leeds United had scored fewer goals than Newcastle in the Premier League before this match.

Record signing Nick Woltemade has been an isolated figure, with little to feed, especially on the road.

Although Waltmad was away from Germany during the international break, Newcastle have made various player moves around the striker, such as Barnes and Jacob Murphy, to try and bring out the best in him upon his return.

Newcastle certainly created chances on Saturday for Waltmad, who was thwarted three times by Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

But while Newcastle had previously been overly reliant on Woltimad, others are beginning to do so.

Not least Barnes.

The striker was guilty of several major misses in the first half – even failing to hit the target with the goal difference – and said he was not the “most popular man” at the end of the first half.

But Barnes not only opened the scoring with a wonderful shot from the edge of the penalty area in the second half, but also scored the winning goal just minutes after Manchester City equalized through Ruben Dias.

Newcastle previously advanced against Arsenal, Brentford and West Ham, but lost.

But they did not collapse when Manchester City equalised, or even after adding eight minutes of stoppage time.

This was an evening in which Newcastle won more tackles and aerial duels, and repelled more visitors.

Although Manchester City dominated possession, which naturally skews the figure, Newcastle held on, making almost twice as many clearances (36) and limiting the visitors to just four shots on target.

This defensive effort has not gone unnoticed by former Newcastle defender Jonathan Woodgate.

“After they had the ball, they were in first position and made it very difficult when City tried to find those little pockets between the lines,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“In the second half I thought they were the better team, they kept catching City in transition and it ended with two great goals by Barnes. What a game of football.”