Newcastle United crashed out of the one competition offering them some vague hope this season.
A passive display from Newcastle saw them lose 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium to exit the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage.
Clearly, losing to Manchester City is hardly the biggest cause for concern. They are the treble holders and on a fantastic run of form, after all.
Still, the manner of the defeat was what was so disappointing. Eddie Howe’s side were passive throughout the contest and the two goals from Bernardo Silva came via deflections, making the result all the more galling.
Though there’s a relative amount of bad luck when goals are deflected in, pundit Danny Murphy believes one Newcastle player did not cover himself in glory.
Man City vs Newcastle: Danny Murphy on Joe Willock
Indeed, Murphy believes Joe Willock looked confused in his role.
The £25m midfielder, hugely praised by Howe, stood off Silva as he sauntered into the box, with Dan Burn then marking the run of the overlapping Kyle Walker.
Willock then went to tackle Silva far too late and his shot came off Burn and duly looped over Martin Dubravka.
Willock is too narrow, he doesn’t need to be that far in and Dan Burn can’t do anything,” he said during the broadcast of BBC’s coverage.
“That’s the fourth or fifth time it’s happened. Of course there’s a bit of luck, but that’s been coming on that side, all of City’s chances are coming down that side.
“I don’t think it’s a lack of effort from Willock, I think it’s more of a lack of understanding of his position. It’s a nothing goal.”
He later added: “Willock is thinking about Foden’s role but he’s got to let one of the back three to deal with that, otherwise the wing-back is going to keep getting these two v ones, which are a problem.”
Man City vs Newcastle: Pitiful performance
Newcastle looked as if they lacked belief throughout the contest.
While losing at the Etihad is certainly no disgrace, not being able to lay much of a glove on City was remarkably disappointing. At times, it looked as if Rafa Benitez was in charge, such was the lack of attacking intent.
To have not even defended particularly well makes it even worse. Only playing one game a week these days and with City having so many plates to spin at this stage of the season, it looked like a great opportunity to try and ruffle some of their feathers.
That’s easier said than done of course but the performance lacked any kind of energy, particularly in the first-half.
