MX23RW : Saturday, April 20 12:15:40| >> :60:825:825:
[monks data]
Attendance: 50,861
Newcastle logo
Premier League | Gameweek 24
Jan 29, 2019 at 8pm UK
 
Manchester City logo

2-1

Rondon (66'), Ritchie (80' pen.)
FT(HT: 0-1)
Aguero (1')

Laporte calls for 'extra effort' to keep stuttering City in title hunt

Laporte calls for 'extra effort' to keep stuttering City in title hunt
© Reuters
The champions lost 2-1 at St James' Park despite taking an early lead.

Aymeric Laporte has urged Manchester City to make Arsenal pay for their shock defeat at Newcastle as they attempt to keep their Premier League title challenge alive.

City looked to be well on the way to a ninth successive victory in all competitions and reducing Liverpool's lead at the top of the table to a single point when they took a first-minute lead at St James' Park on Tuesday evening.

However, Pep Guardiola's shell-shocked side eventually left Tyneside on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline, having handed the Reds a chance to extend their advantage to seven points at home to Leicester 24 hours later.

Aymeric Laporte), David Silva and Gabriel Jesus reflect on the shock defeat to Newcastle (Richard Sellers/PA).
Aymeric Laporte), David Silva and Gabriel Jesus reflect on the shock defeat to Newcastle (Richard Sellers/PA).

They will return to action against the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, with Laporte knowing there is only one acceptable response.

The French defender told City TV: "Obviously it's always disappointing when you lose because we were supposed to get closer to Liverpool and to our goal.

"But obviously we need to learn and look forward, learn about our mistakes and think about the next games.

"There are still 14 games left, so we are going to fight until the end. We have a great team no matter what the result was, so I am not worried about the performance and the players we have in our squad.

"Hopefully we can improve and we can do better in the upcoming games. All the games are important, (Newcastle) as well.

"It was as important as the rest of the games ahead, but obviously after the defeat we are going to need an extra effort to win the following games and keep being in the title race."

Sergio Aguero's early strike looked ominous for Newcastle, but, although the visitors dominated possession, they were unable to extend their lead to give Rafael Benitez's men hope.

City finally succumbed with 66 minutes gone when they failed to deal fully with a ball into the box and, when Isaac Hayden helped it back in, Salomon Rondon spun to volley the Magpies level.

Worse was to follow for Pep Guardiola's side with 10 minutes remaining when Fernandinho's clumsy challenge sent Sean Longstaff to the turf and Matt Ritchie stepped up to convert the resulting penalty.

Laporte said: "We had chances and we should have scored more goals. We had more chances than them, but they were just more efficient than us, to sum up the game.

"They had very few chances and they scored, and we didn't."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Damian Spellman, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '9ffbe2ea-d325-45b8-9597-a78f3dcc1ebd');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Laporte calls for \u2018extra effort\u2019 to keep stuttering City in title hunt'});

ID:348649: cacheID:348649:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7564:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Sean Longstaff in action for Newcastle United on July 24, 2018
Read Next:
One of the best nights of my life - Longstaff hails 'unbelievable' win over City
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
2Arsenal32225575264971
3Liverpool32218372314171
4Aston Villa33196868491963
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle321551269521750
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd32155124748-150
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham33139115258-648
9Chelsea31138106152947
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves32127134651-543
12Fulham33126154951-242
13Bournemouth32119124757-1042
14Crystal Palace3289153754-1733
15Brentford3388174758-1132
16Everton3298153248-1627
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3379174258-1626
18Luton TownLuton3367204670-2425
19Burnley3348213368-3520
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3237223084-5416


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!