Gleeful Pep Guardiola reaction tells all as Man City unleash new era

Manchester City won 2-0 away at Newcastle United on Tuesday night in a coming of age performance from Pep Guardiola's new-look squad

This was it, this was what Pep Guardiola has said all season he can feel and smell around the Etihad campus. The spirit and fight of this new-look Manchester City.

It's been questioned plenty this season, not least in the last couple of weeks after three successive Premier League draws saw the Blues fall six points behind Arsenal at the top of the table. But Guardiola, as he often has been, was steadfast in his confidence despite those dropped points. The City chief spoke of the Club World Cup this summer being a turning point in moving from last season's struggles to new possibilities.

City spent big a year ago and added further in the summer. Huge players, names and figures moved on. Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson and Ilkay Gundogan have departed. John Stones has barely played this term.

City began the season in swashbuckling style at Wolves but back to back defeats to Tottenham and Brighton led to concerns that the issues of 2024-25 had not been ironed out, that City might not yet be ready to challenge for the title.

Manchester United, their opponents this weekend, were swatted aside 3-0 in early September and City have only actually lost three matches in all competitions since. Their challenge continues on four fronts and on Tuesday night in the St James' Park cauldron, a young, new, vibrant squad laid down their biggest marker yet.

Newcastle United had won 11 of their past 13 home games, they were the Carabao Cup holders, they had home advantage. But City, featuring rookie centre back pairing Max Alleyne and Abdukodir Khusanov, stood up to the fight in the first half and took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second.

Antoine Semenyo, already proving a shrewd signing barely two matches into his City career, scored one and saw another controversially ruled out. That decision lifted the home fans and Newcastle roused themselves for a finale. The trailed 1-0 but the momentum had shifted in their favour.

Yet City stood strong. James Trafford made a sensational save, Alleyne and Khusanov were solid at the back, Bernardo Silva tigerish in midfield and the new boys sparkled further forward. Semenyo, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki combined in the dying seconds to fashion a fantastic second. It put one City foot in the Carabao Cup final ahead of the second leg at the Etihad next month.

As the full time whistle sounded, Guardiola strode on to the turf beaming. He couldn't contain his glee. There was a chat with Cherki that had the hallmarks of a Guardiola one to one instruction session, but with smiles. A shattered Erling Haaland received a bear hug, there was a delighted exchange with Ait-Nouri, an arm round Tijjani Reijnders, a big smile for Rico Lewis. Almost every City player got the well done treatment from Guardiola.

He's kept the faith in what this squad can offer, now plenty more will be taking notice.