Newcastle 4-1 Manchester City
Iconic - Beckham (above playing for England) nets the opener.
Fans at St.James' Park were treated to a show today as they watched their side hammer The Citizens 4-1. Manager Craig Todd watched on excitedly as his side romped Manchester City.
It was former England captain David Beckham who got the scoring underway. As Iker Muniain was fouled on 25 yards out, Newcastle and Manchester City fans only had one player in mind to step up and take the free-kick. He did so. Beckham started his run-up before sweetly curling the ball up and over the wall and nestling it into the top left hand corner. He celebrated with team-mates Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan. As Nolan and Carroll strolled off Beckham turned round to the opposing Citizens fans and pounded his chest proudly. Echoing jeers could be heard and rang out inside the ground.
The show was to be stolen by Iker Muniain though. The little Spainiard had been a revelation since joining from Athletic Bilbao in the summer for £15million. Some feared that the 17 year old would flop with such an expensive transfer fee. Not to be. The youngster strolled onto the field today with fellow forward Andy Carroll and was a clear MOM winner. His first game on the half hour mark. Nolan picked the ball up from Scott Dann and turned to attack the City goal. As Nolan skipped past De Jong he fed the ball wide to David Beckham. He looked up and spotted Muniain making the run towards the front post. No doubt in Newcastle fans mind Beckham picked out Muniain as he rattled home a diving header. His 2nd came in the 2nd half as he scored a stunning individual goal. A poor pass from Diego Lugano found the feet of Muniain 35 yards out. With only Carroll in support and 4 City defenders, the odds were stacked against them for a goal. Nevertheless, a goal was scored. Muniain ran at Lugano with pace and eased past him. Kolo Toure analysed the possible threat and pointed for Boateng to come across and mark Carroll. But Toure couldn't stop the Spainish Under 21 starlet either. Muniain cut inside onto his left foot past Toure, leaving only the keeper in his way. Joe Hart was no match for Muniain, who put it across the England number 1, making it 3-1 to Newcastle.
The 4th for Newcastle was a goal from skipper Kevin Nolan and was throughly deserved too. A neat 1-2 between Nolan and midfield partner Ivan Rakitic seen Nolan put through on goal. After his intial shot was saved, the Liverpublian made no mistake about the 2nd attempt.
Ivan Rakitic also picked up a broken leg in this game and will be out for 6 months. This has sparked rage from many as it is a 3rd leg break Dutch midfielder Nigel De Jong has caused. In a voulgar tackle, De Jong lunged in at Rakitic, visibly snapping his leg in 2. The replay is to graphic to show again, though we've been informed the BBC have a more detailed anaylises on the situation that faces the Toon.