Player Ratings versus Manchester City

Newcastle may have deserved more, but in the end, missed chances added up to a 2-0 loss in extra time to Manchester City in the CapitalOne Cup on Wednesday night.

The first half saw Newcastle be the better side, by far. The Magpies had more chances and better chances than Manchester City. But, Newcastle's quest for a goal went begging. Shola Ameobi had some of the better chances in the opening half. He had a volley trickle off the goalkeeper's gloves. Moments later, Shola gathered up a bad miss from Cisse and tucked him home, but the flag was up for offsides. Late in the half, Shola let the entire ground know his frustrations, letting out a yell of anguish after failing to connect with a volley.

Defensively, Newcastle played well in the first half. Manchester City didn't have many opportunities at goal. Tim Krul was hardly tested. The midfield closed down on City well and didn't give them much shooting space. When City did get the ball away, it was usually shot well over or well wide of the net.

The second half saw Manchester City gain a foothold into the match, as they possessed the ball more. Still, Newcastle had their opportunities, but could not finish. Cisse again had a golden chance go wide, though it would not have counted, since it was flicked on to him by an offsides Yoan Gouffran. Newcastle threw all their chips forward, putting on Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa late, but they could not manage a goal. With a goalless 90 minutes played, it was on to extra time.

Cisse nearly opened the scoring in the early moments of extra time, receiving a nice ball from Ben Arfa on the counter-attack. But, his shot was straight at the City keeper, and scores remained level. Moments later, the striker did bury a shot, but it was from an offsides position.

All the chances wasted would catch up with Newcastle United, as in the 9th minute of added time, Manchester City got their goal. Alvaro Negredo got a bit of space in the box and made no mistake to put City up 1-0. Six minutes later, Edin Dzeko slotted home another goal, breaking the hearts of Newcastle. The Magpies did have some cracks at goal in the second half of extra time, but it was not to be.

The scoreline may not have been indicative of the game, but what are your thoughts? Rate each player and we'll have a results post up later in the week.

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