Alan Shearer fears that Manchester City’s porous defence is a ‘concern’ in the Premier League title race after their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United.
Pep Guardiola’s side had the chance to cut Arsenal’s lead to just one point at the top of the table ahead of Sunday’s north London derby at the Emirates.
However, a second-half brace from Harvey Barnes saw Newcastle pick up a much-needed win at St James’ Park to further dent City’s title hopes.
City have now lost consecutive league games on the road, with the loss dropping them to third behind Chelsea and potentially seven points behind the Gunners if Mikel Arteta’s side can beat Tottenham on Sunday.
There was an element of controversy with Newcastle’s winner, which was eventually awarded after a torturously long investigation from VAR.
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And while Guardiola was keen to vent his frustrations at the officials at full-time, Shearer believes the Spaniard should be more concerned with how easily Eddie Howe’s side were able to carve out chances throughout the encounter.
‘I understand his frustration because his team have been beaten and well-beaten in that second half,’ Shearer told Premier League Productions.
‘They didn’t create a lot. He’s raw just after the game, he’s seen his team beaten in a really tough game, but for me the concern would be how many chances they are giving up, not any refereeing decisions or bad luck.
‘If Newcastle had their shooting boots on, they should have scored six or seven – they issed four absolute sitters. The way they carved City open would be a bigger concern for me.’
With defending champions Liverpool falling to another concerning defeat against Nottingham Forest, many have speculated that City may be the only team capable of challenging Arsenal in this season’s title race.
But Shearer believes that Saturday’s result shows that Guardiola’s side are still some way off the side that romped to four-straight league titles under the Spaniard.
‘They are certainly not as good as they were, and we might never see them as good as what they were when they were on that unbelievable run,’ he added.
‘I mean, the standards that they set in terms of winning trophies, goals and all of those things, they were brilliant and I’, not sure we’ll see them get to that again.
‘They are certainly not the same team without the brilliant Rodri and the protection he gives them in that team. I’m not sure they’ve replaced him as yet. Whether they can find someone as good, probably not.
‘But the concern would be for me defensively. They are always going to socre goals, particularly with Haaland up front, but defensively they certainly aren’t as sharp as they used to be.’
Speaking after the game, Guardiola told BBC Sport: ‘Newcastle is a top side, top players, top manager so unfortunately tonight we could not make the momentum that we had.
‘It was entertaining game, we both had chances and then there was a momentum shift and ultimately we couldn’t win.’
Asked if he was frustrated to drop points ahead of Arsenal’s game on Sunday, he replied: ‘Always but it is a football game and the opponent is playing and they played good too.’
Both City and Newcastle return to European action in midweek, with City hosting Bayer Leverkusen and Newcastle visiting Marseille.
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