Newcastle United obviously had many more winners than losers after beating Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday night.
A resurgent Newcastle United beat Manchester City 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday night at St James’ Park to send a statement.
Indeed, this has been a difficult season for Newcastle United but they proved they can still mix it with the very best.
Frankly, they should have won by a bigger margin. Harvey Barnes bagged a crucial brace but should have had one in the first half too.
Nick Woltemade might have done better with a few chances but what matters is that Eddie Howe responded to his critics by claiming a first-ever Premier League win over Man City.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the winners and losers.
Winners
Lewis Hall
Lewis Hall was brilliant as Newcastle United beat City. The left-back made his first start in months due to Dan Burn’s suspension and looked as if he hadn’t missed a step.
He gives Newcastle a much better balance going forward and remains a resolute defender, too.
Hall outperformed counterpart Nico O’Reilly, who has been tipped as a potential England left-back ahead of next summer’s World Cup.
On this evidence, it has to be Hall who starts next summer.
Who was your Newcastle United MOTM against Manchester City?
Harvey Barnes
It was a strange game for Barnes. He scored perhaps the two more difficult chances out of the four openings he had.
Still, those misses do not matter now. Barnes surely cemented himself as Newcastle’s starting left-winger by bagging a brace.
It would feel incredibly strange to drop him now.
Eddie Howe
Howe has been questioned at Newcastle but his players certainly proved they were still playing for him on Saturday night.
There was no suggestion that his tenure is going stale. His side looked committed as ever and once again proved that St James’ Park remains one of the most difficult places to come to in the Premier League.
A first win over City as manager should hopefully help turn this season around.
Tino Livramento
No one needed reminding about just how good Tino Livramento really is. Still, he offered one anyway.
In his first game since the start of October, the defender looked just as good as Hall on the opposite flank.
Newcastle are a different team with those two in the ranks.
Reminder: Paul Mitchell once thought that Newcastle United overspent on Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall.
Losers
Anthony Gordon
It’s now difficult to see how Anthony Gordon replaces Barnes in the starting lineup outside of rotation.
Gordon is a big-game player but wasn’t available here due to a hip injury.
To pin all of Newcastle’s problems on him would be unfair but Barnes produced the kind of performance Gordon used to against the biggest teams around.
It’s a big challenge for Gordon, who needs to be performing if he’s going to claim a starting spot for England ahead of the World Cup.
Sven Botman
Perhaps surprisingly, Sven Botman was the only player who started at Brentford before the international break who was dropped here.
Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn played in west London but were ruled out through injury and suspension.
Botman’s form has tailed off in recent weeks and the fact Fabian Schar put in a fine performance alongside the impressive Malick Thiaw will have not gone unnoticed.
At one point, Botman looked as if he couldn’t be dropped. Now, he surely faces a fight to get back into the starting XI.
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