Manchester City defender John Stones admits the Premier League champions were stunned twice at Newcastle on Saturday, leaving them 11 points off leaders Liverpool.
City dominated the game with 24 shots – nine of which were on target – but the Magpies scored with pretty much their only two shots on goal.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring after 22 minutes before Jetro Willems hit back three minutes late.
EISH: Man City's Stone. Picture: Phil Noble/Reuters.
Kevin de Bruyne’s thunderbolt eight minutes from time seemed to finally have sealed the points for Pep Guardiola’s team.
But Jonjo Shelvey’s brilliant curler from a freekick routine late on frustrated City, who have won just twice in their six matches across all competitions.
NEMISIS: Newcastle's Jojo Shelvey. Picture: Scott Heppell/Reuters.
And City defender Stones admits: “This is a difficult one to take, conceding so late, having scored so late. It was one of those games.
“They set out the gameplan quite early – five at the back, 11 men behind. We kept pushing, trying to break them down.
“We have to figure it out, use our flair and how we play. We train every day to break down these systems.
“I thought we did that well and created some great chances.
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“We got our break in the first half and conceded two sloppy goals.
“We’re going to have to reflect and change it round very quickly.”