Dan Burn and Sven Botman score the goals as Newcastle United are dumped out of the FA Cup. Wait, what?

Newcastle United's FA Cup dream came to a predictable end at the Etihad Stadium with Manchester City running out 2-0 winners.

Pep Guardiola's side haven't lost at home for over a year and never looked like they would tonight either as Eddie Howe's men barely put up a fight in the pouring rain.

To give credit where it's due, there were moments where Newcastle looked like they might do something, but they were few and far between as the Magpies were simply outclassed in every position.

Manchester City make playing the game look so easy, everything they do is effortless. The way they can pass out from the back so casually and precisely, whereas our lads struggle to make the simple things look easy at times.

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Man City were excellent but also very lucky

We don't want to get on the lads' backs too much here as we weren't expecting anything more than what we got, in fact, the scoreline was more forgiving than we were expecting and, let's be honest, if it wasn't for lucky deflections, I'd not be writing this right now as I'd be watching us in extra time.

Bernardo Silva's name will likely appear on the scoresheet for both of Manchester City's goals, but without deflections from our defenders, neither shot would have found the back of the net.

The first was a deflection off Dan Burn's thigh which looped the ball over Martin Dubravka's head, while the second was a beautiful glancing header by Sven Botman to divert the ball away form his 'keeper who would likely have made the save were it not for Botman's intervention.

The new formation seemed to work quite well at times

Speaking of Sven Botman, the Dutch tank was taken off near the end of the game after having some trouble with his knee. Whether or not it was the same knee that has kept him out for most of the season, I'm not sure, but if it is, you'd imagine we'll not be seeing him for a while. As harsh as this will sound, I'm not even sure that's a bad thing. He's been way, way off his best since returning from injury.

We wonder Eddie Howe's change in formation is something he's going to stick with, as, despite a few teething troubles, we seemed to play quite well in the new system. If Alexander Isak was capable of taking the ball in his stride we'd probably have had a goal to show for our efforts today.

The four changes made by Eddie Howe just after the hour mark gave us a new look too. Hooking Dan Burn, Anthony Gordon, Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock to bring on Lewis Hall, Elliot Anderson, Lewis Miley and Miguel Almiron afforded us a brief spell where we were the dominant team.

Incidentally, Lewis Hall looked decent making only his 12th appearance since his loan move from Chelsea. The mystery man who has been overlooked by Howe all season may have given his gaffer something to ponder on for the back end of the Premier League.

The league is now, sadly, all we have left to play for. Clawing our way into a European spot now has to be our aim and hopefully, this warm-weather training camp will have the same magic effect on our performances as it did back in January 2022!