Pep Guardiola has hailed Newcastle United as an 'exceptional' team after his Man City side defeated the Magpies.
City remain unbeaten against Newcastle at the Etihad in the Premier League after Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva fired Guardiola's team to a 2-0 win on Saturday. Yet that scoreline did not necessarily tell the full story. Anthony Gordon, Sean Longstaff, Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak all had sights of goal for the visitors but, crucially, Newcastle failed to take their chances once more.
After the game, Guardiola was asked if he was concerned that his side were going to pay for failing to take one or two chances of their own when Newcastle had such big opportunities, themselves, before Bernardo's clincher midway through the second half. Guardiola gave an impassioned response that showed just how much homework the City boss had done on Newcastle's team of giants.
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"It’s Newcastle," he told reporters. "They are an exceptional team. Set-pieces with [Kieran] Trippier. Every corner, free-kick, you have to look to the sky.
"They have a threat in the transition with Gordon, [Allan] Saint-Maximin and Wilson keeping the ball, and after Isak. They have an exceptional holding midfielder - Bruno Guimaraes is a top-class player. Wow. [Sean] Longstaff and Joelinton have physicality.
"[Fabian] Schar was not there today, but what a central defender. [Nick] Pope is an international goalkeeper for England.
"They played in the final of the Carabao Cup one week ago and, all season, they have been in the top four or top five. What do you expect? It’s normal it happens."
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