Man City defeated Newcastle 3–0 at home, overcoming the first hurdle of the devilish fixture run.
This became the focus of extensive media coverage the following day.
Before this match, Newcastle had overcome Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur to sit third in the Premier League table. Their performance had been outstanding, earning unanimous praise from the Magpies fans.
Many Magpies fans had even believed that Newcastle had a chance of pulling off an upset away from home.
But at the Etihad Stadium, Newcastle had never taken control of the match from start to finish. Their mere 23 percent possession subjected Pardew's side to a brutal beating.
At the post-match press conference, the Magpies' manager admitted frankly that Newcastle's strength was indeed inferior to Man City's.
"A great team can always find an effective way to deal with different strategies from their opponents. Whether they engage in an open attacking battle or face an impenetrable defensive wall, they fear nothing. Man City is exactly that kind of team."
Pardew gave Guardiola's team extremely high praise. He also praised Su Dong, who had been named Best Player of the match, believing that Su Dong was Man City's most crucial core player.
"In fact, for a possession-based team like Man City, patience is extremely important. They possess astonishing passing and ball-control ability. While wearing down their opponents and putting them under pressure, they also create enormous psychological pressure for themselves."
"That is: 'What do I do if I still can't break through their goal?'"
"Having won so much possession but still being unable to score for so long—there's simply no way to explain that."
Pardew believed that Man City in the 2009–10 season had encountered precisely this problem. They could always control possession, but they easily became impatient, which caused them to