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MOTD: Newcastle United 1-1 Manchester City

By on April 19, 2016

Vurnon Anita burst down the right onto the end of a long diagonal ball. With an excellent first touch he went whizzing towards the touchline and opened up his hips as if to cross, then cut back into the middle at the last moment. Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov bought the fake, flying hopelessly in the wrong direction as Anita tucked wrapped his foot around a lovely curling finish into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

Moments of such class and lethality have been few and far between this season and St. James’s Park has seldom heard such a roar of approval in recent times. There were days that now seem so far removed where such swashbuckling performances from Newcastle United were commonplace.

Not these days.

The stands were spotted with empty seats and many had thought a 3-0 win over Swansea City last weekend was too little, too late for Newcastle to salvage themselves from almost certain relegation. And although they couldn’t have expected this, a most promising of draws against a league heavyweight, they would be right.

Newcastle are still two points adrift with two of their four remaining games against Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, who have collectively lost just three matches in eighteen in since March 5th.

Manchester City stole the two vital points right out of their hands and the Magpies fanbase will justifiably feel cheated by Sergio Aguero’s blatantly offside goal. Georginio Wijnaldumalso blew a golden opportunity to nick the win in the dying moments of the match, with Joe Hart pulling out a fantastic save to deny the winger in a one-on-one breakaway.

Newcastle’s situation remains dire and they would still need a miracle to stay up. They came on the cusp of one today but in the end, it was only a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been if Rafael Benitez had taken over the reigns at St. James’s Park weeks sooner.

Check Tiote and Moussa Sissoko were back to their best but the margins are so thin in the relegation battle that every point counts, and these were two dropped for Benitez’s men.

They highlighted City’s fallibilities and undermined the quiet confidence the Sky Blues have built up over the past few weeks with victories over Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain ahead of a Champions League semifinal clash with Real Madrid next week.

Neither City boss Manuel Pellegrini or Benitez could go home satisfied and although the match had drama and excitement, it couldn’t decide a winner.

Homepage photo credit: Joe89316 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.