Foden’s Performance Inspires Manchester City’s Victory Over Newcastle

A stunning strike from Julián Álvarez secured a 1-0 victory for Manchester City over Newcastle United in their first home match of the new Premier League season, capping off a night of celebration for last season’s treble winners at the Etihad Stadium.

With the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup trophies all on display on the pitch before kick-off, City comprehensively defeated Newcastle, who are managed by Eddie Howe, whose title ambitions suffered a setback at the start of the season.

Pep Guardiola chose Phil Foden to replace the injured Kevin De Bruyne, and the 23-year-old English international responded with a man-of-the-match performance as he took responsibility for creating chances for the champions.

After a first-half in which the hosts dominated possession, Alvarez broke the deadlock in the 31st minute when Foden found him on the edge of the penalty area, and the Argentine unleashed a powerful shot across Nick Pope and into the net.

Newcastle upped the tempo in the second half, but City had the better chances, although striker Erling Haaland looked frustrated as he failed to score despite several opportunities created for him by Foden.

The visitors eventually applied pressure in the final 15 minutes, but despite some better attacks, they struggled to create shots on goal.

Substitute Callum Wilson wasted a promising counter-attack when he stole the ball from Rodri in midfield but couldn’t create an angle to run towards the goal, and when the final shot was taken by Harvey Barnes, it didn’t trouble Ederson much.

City almost scored a second goal when Foden unleashed a lofted shot towards the end of the game as they maintained their winning streak in the league to start their season and extended their record to 17 consecutive home wins in all competitions.

“I enjoyed playing there, hopefully in the future I can play more in that position and show people what I can do,” Foden said about his role as a playmaker in a television interview.

“The manager has spoken to me a few times, he said to be patient, ‘You always train really well and work hard, and you’ll get your chances in the future,’ and now I’ve applied it, I’m very happy.”

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe had few complaints after watching his team lose over 90 minutes.

“It was a tough game as we knew. They are an elite team. We tried our best to execute our plan.

“We played better in the second half, but when the moments came, we weren’t clinical enough,” he said.