How City nullified Newcastle in crucial win – from Haaland help to unseen work
Manchester City picked up a major victory on Saturday night to keep the pressure firmly on Arsenal in the title race
16:59, 23 Feb 2026
Gianluigi Donnarumma embraces matchwinner Nico O’Reilly and Erling Haaland after Manchester City defeated Newcastle United(Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Manchester City showed a different side to their game on Saturday as they beat Newcastle United and kept pace with Arsenal. The Blues were steely in defence as Eddie Howe’s team pushed for an equaliser.
City may have been fortunate to see Dan Burn’s goal chalked off but they deserved the three points. It was not only Rayan Ait-Nouri, Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Marc Guehi and, later, Abdukodir Khusanov defending, it was a team effort. With this in mind, MEN Sport has taken a look at four defensive tactics City used to win the game.
Erling Haaland
It speaks volumes that Haaland was singled out by Pep Guardiola for his defensive work, rather than his offensive play. “I’m not a big fan to put Erling to defend, but he helped us, and I know after that how the people hug him and celebrate him and say they’re grateful to help us because Newcastle allowed us to do that,” the City boss said.
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The Norwegian joined the defence for set pieces to deal with the aerial threats of Burn, Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw. And he showed the same intensity in this task as he does in the opposition box.
At one stage, you could see Haaland bouncing from side to side as he anticipated the cross coming in. The striker showed he is more than just a source of goals and silenced those who thought otherwise.
Duo helping
City don’t just have Haaland helping their defence, Omar Marmoush and Antoine Semenyo also joined the effort. While neither man can clear an aerial delivery like Haaland, they both worked hard to keep the lead intact.
Both forwards were quick to track back and follow the wingers when Newcastle broke away. This can often go unnoticed but the duo’s pace halted some promising counters and allowed the defence to recover their line.
The one time they didn’t track back quick enough, Anthony Gordon forced a good save from Gianluigi Donnarumma so it’s clear how important defending from the front is.
Vintage Rodri
There’s a reason City have been weaker when Rodri is out of the team. He provides protection to the defence unlike anyone else in this squad.
We have associated the Spaniard with his brilliant passing range and crunching tackles but on Saturday, his aerial ability started the move for Nico O’Reilly’s opener. He won the header from Newcastle’s long ball which sparked the City counter.
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He may go about his work unassumingly but Rodri is the best defensive midfielder in the world because he can do everything. On Saturday, he used one of the strings on his bow to devastating effect.
Bernardo’s work rate
Guardiola will be gutted when Bernardo Silva leaves because there are few players who have his engine. In the second half, the captain could be found in both boxes helping his team.
In the defensive third, he became the fifth body if Rodri was caught further up the pitch. Bernardo won’t class himself as an excellent defender, but his presence in the box suffocated options – as shown when Anthony Elanga looked up to find nobody free in the area thanks to Bernardo.
This hesitation allowed Ait-Nouri to barge Elanga out of play. It was not an evening when Bernardo stole the show up front but his work rate remains a huge asset for the Blues.
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