Pep Guardiola pinpoints what went wrong for Manchester City in Newcastle thriller

Pep Guardiola has reflected on Manchester City's display in their breathtaking 3-3 draw with Newcastle at St. James' Park on Sunday evening.

Eddie Howe's side took the game to the Premier League champions, who dropped their first points of the campaign after opening victories over West Ham and Bournemouth.

The visitors enjoyed a dream start to proceedings after Ilkay Gundogan put City in front after five minutes.

However, the hosts responded in fearless fashion by causing City serious problems on the break before levelling just before the half-hour mark through Miguel Almiron.

City's woes compounded deep into the first-half as Callum Wilson came up trumps to give the Magpies the lead after a brilliant take and finish past Ederson.

After the interval, Newcastle refused to pump the brakes and earned a two-goal cushion courtesy of Kieran Trippier’s stunning free-kick to pile the pressure on City.

However, Pep Guardiola’s troops responded like champions by striking twice in the space of four minutes.

Erling Haaland was at the right place at the right time to volley venomously past Nick Pope to inject life into the contest just past the hour mark.

Shortly after, a moment of pure magic from Kevin De Bruyne saw the Belgian deliver a gorgeous ball to set up Bernardo Silva for the equaliser.

As things seemed to be heading in City’s direction, Trippier was shown a red card for what appeared to be a dangerous tackle on De Bruyne with just over 20 minutes on the clock.

However, the decision was eventually overturned by VAR in somewhat controversial fashion as the England international went high in his challenge that could have caused serious damage to the Manchester City playmaker.

Despite City's attempts to steal a winner late on, Newcastle held out for a deserved point to cap off a scintillating 90 minutes between two sides going for the win.

“Proper football game. We started really well," said Pep Guardiola after the game.

"We lost some duels and they (Newcastle) could run. Once the game was open, they were better for 20 minutes."

Guardiola praised Newcastle's frontline for causing City all sorts of problems in the first half but did highlight one area his side will seek to improve on.

The 51-year old added: “The team showed who we are. Allan Saint-Maximin is really dangerous. We should take more time in the final third.”

City boarded a flight to Girona after the game on Sunday to hold warm weather training ahead of their midweek charity friendly with Barcelona.

Guardiola and his men will return to England on Thursday and will be looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League against Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium.